The Rimers of Eldritch was my fifth show at Guilford College in which I was involved in the props department. There is only one specifically named prop in Rimers and that is a shotgun. I arranged for the rental of a suitable stage gun from a dealer who the college had previously dealt with and collected various rehearsal props for the actors to practice their eventual pantomimed props. These actions effectively concluded the majority of the direct props work for the run of the show. The question now was how to best utilize our remaining work hours.

As luck would have it, Guilford College’s props storage facility was in deplorable condition. The basement the housed the props department was cluttered with trash, broken glass, dead and nesting vermin, and props that has amassed into junkpiles on the floor. It was near impossible to know what sort of items we had at all, much less what condition anything was in. The technical director saw this prop-minimal production as a perfect opportunity to begin a major overhaul of that basement and so we set to work.