A chilly day for prop painting

Written by Cath Moyse - Sat 11th Jan 2025

A group of artists met at the barn this morning in sub zero temperatures to create a canteen of oversized cutlery for the Castle Servants song. Today’s task was to paint black the rear sides and handles of the MDF cutouts. The pile of unpainted cutlery, tea cups and saucers looked intimidating when we first arrived, but we soon got the challenge completed and in less than an hour the half-painted articles were laid out on the barn floor to dry. We will return in a couple of weeks to decorate the front faces ready for the pantomime in February. 

I also took the opportunity to get a sneak preview of the scenery and an insight into the creative process. The images are generated digitally using AI and then projected onto blank white scenery boards. These projected templates are used to draw the outlines of each scene which are later filled in by a team of talented artists. The projection process works best in the dark, so poor Barry has spent many cold, lonely, nighttime hours in the barn in complete darkness.  

Beauty and The Beast is showing at The Cooper School in Bicester between 19th and 22nd February. Get your tickets today before they sell out from www.ticketsource.co.uk/lvp