My theater company is beginning production on "Who"s Afraid of Virginia Woolf"  and the actors are clamouring for a gun that shoots an umbrella...not just "a gun" but a rifle...I always thought that I could make anything but this one has me baffled....does anyone know where I could buy such an item?

I found an "umbrella gun" at Jauchem & Meeh Special Effects in Brooklyn, NY.  It is perfect.....a rifle that shoots a big umbrella.  Don't have the price yet but at least it is available.

In Regards to the breakable lute:

I'm sure you're aware, but I feel obliged to remind everyone reading these posts to use EXTRA precaution when building "breakaway" props.

While the human skull might be fairly resilient, remember that the human neck, spine and surrounding muscles supporting said skull are easily prone to injury.  Even a glancing blow with a prop that does not give way can result in serious harm. 

Likewise, the human ear and eye are especially vulnerable and even the best-trained actor in the enthusiasm of performance could mis-cue his attack and create disastrous results.

Personally, I would abandon anything pre-built (such as the bamboo steamers).  Such objects are typically designed to handle casual or severe misuse.  Building from scratch is your best option, keeping an eye toward creating a prop that is physically as flimsy as possible without crumbling in one's hands.

To this end, I recommond papier mache as the strongest contender for the bowl-shape of the lute.  If you're concerned about the breakage showing signs of fakery, then use brown wrapping paper sliced into strips instead of newspaper.  This will resemble wood more readily.  Likewise, for the neck and face of the instrument, please don't use actual wood, but corrugated cardboard from packing boxes.

Ideally, the finished prop will have little or no weight whatsoever, and it will be up to the performers to convey the impact and heft of the piece.

Best of luck, and as always, safety first!

Dreadful, depressing, repulsive is how you describe one of the best pieces of American drama ever?    Actors wait a lifetime to play the roles in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.  It has been a staple of English, drama and theatre classes for about 40 years.  I suppose we should be thankful that you were at least moved by it enough to characterize as you did. 

I don't mean to sound like some theatre snob but this play has the kind of visceral effect that good drama ought to have.   It's a timeless piece and without it alot of contemporary plays would not have happened.    I can't wait until my ct has the good sense to mount a production of it.

Yeah, yeah...I know.  I'm not doubting that it is "one of the best pieces of American Drama ever" but having to listen to that play (we started rehearsals at my house) night after night was awful.  I felt like George and Martha came to see me every night.  I actually apologized to my upstairs neighbors so that they would understand that this was a play going on downstairs...not me having bitter nasty fights with some man.  I would go in the other room and sew or into my bedroom and watch TV and then the actors and director would be insulted..like I could listen to this venom every day and ENJOY it.  To make matters worse our "Martha" never got out of character.  She found bitchy nasty things to say to me and the other people involved every night..started fights, spread rumors...told me what to do in my own house and craved attention every second of her existence.  We all hated her long before the curtain went up.  Finally I asked them to find another rehearsal space.  I felt like I was being "non supportive" and was guilty about it but this theater we have is a joy to me and this play was tearing it apart.  Finally I worked only with the director and built the set....ignored rehearsal completely.

Go ahead and stage this play if you have actors who can tackle it but be prepared...we had very good reviews but very small audiences...seems that no one else wanted to listen to George and Martha either.  We lost sackfulls of money. 

Joan54,

I must say I for one am on your side! Can't stand the play either. We don't have to love every classic. there are plently of theatre folk out there to keep this play alive. We need not add ourselve to the Misery

Life is too short to do shows that you don't like. this is even more true when you do it all for free.

I guess doing Virginia Woolf in your living room could be pretty disturbing to the neighbors or a testiment as to how well the actors were playing their roles.

I agree that the play doesn't suite everyone's taste but boy does it get to an emotional core that some other plays only wish they could get to.   It's not an easy ride to take and I can certainly understand how you felt at the end of it, being exposed to it night after night.   And having a Martha that couldn't turn if off when the curtain went down could only have exacerbated the experience for you.

Sorry to hear that your ct lost money on it.   That's also part of the fear of doing it at our ct, that it will alienate subscribers and our other regular patrons.  Fortunately we haven't been reduced to doing just Neil Simon (who has been very, very good to me for roles) and murder mysteries.   In 20 years we've never lost money on a show no matter what it's been.   Some not so much as others but we haven't had losing a show or season in quite some time.

Good luck with Taming of the Shrew!    It's another show I'd wish we'd do if only we could get over our fear of Shakespeare but that's a discussion for another topic. 

When we formed our little company ( my son and his friend) we wanted to do Shakespeare but also allowed for other plays ( like Virginia Woolf) that "regular" community theater usually pass by.  We would like to be a "for profit" company but so far all we have done is break even or lose money.  We know that it will take a while to create an audience in our community and we are working hard at it... a comedy and a tragedy each season and lots of small scenes at fund raisers.  The main thing is that if we wanted to make money we wouldn't have started a theater...you're a fool if you think it is going to make you any money.  It makes us rich in other ways...we're doing what we want, the way we want to do it and that, as they say, is priceless.

Go ahead and talk them into doing Shrew....we're having a lot of fun with it....very slapstick..lots of food-fights and kissing and physical comedy and we're still laughing two weeks before opening even though the pressure is on.....