The Great Privation
Props Supervisor
Soho Rep
Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons
March – April 2025
Written by
Nia Akilah Robinson
Directed by
Evren Odcikin
Scenic Design by
Mariana Sanchez
Props Assistant:
Isabella Morrow
The Great Privation is a story that spans centuries of American and Black history, exploring historical trauma in a manner that is fresh and funny while utterly devastating.
While the show was not particularly prop-heavy, the demand for props that could read as both contemporary 19th century period and contemporary involved a great deal of scenic treatments and distressing. The set’s backdrop was a black void, so hand props took on an added visual weight when revealed. Brown paints and coffee dyes were essential to the package.
Given the close quarters of the Peter J Sharp Theater, the various teams worked closely and intimately on this show, and the project benefited from these connections. I met many new folks on this show and loved the team-building that happened over the course of rehearsals and tech.
Fun props projects included: a 3D printed and heavily scenic’ed human skull, a scary and ancient box made of (heavily scenic’ed) OSB, many practical digging moments with cork stage dirt, my discovery of Stouffer’s Whales (a better, cheesier Goldfish alternative), successfully converting a Klein Tools bag into a period medical kit.
