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Fake Food

Theatre has a lot of fake food! Here are some of my favorites that I've made.

Little Roast Pig

The Little Roast Pig was created for the Goodman Theatre's A Christmas Carol  in 2015. It was made by carving the basic shape out of foam, then adding a layer of clay to add skin details. A hydrocal mold was made, then it was cast with latex, and filled with expanding foam. Ears were added, then it was finished with acrylic paints.

Christmas Goose

The Christmas Goose was added for the Goodman Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol in 2016. It was for the Cratchit dinner scene, and was designed to be carved every performance with the ability to be put back together for the next show.  It began as a clay sculpt, then a hydrocal mold was made. It was cast in latex and expanding foam.  Once out of the mold, a layer of latex and tissue paper was added for the crispy skin effect.  It was then painted with acrylics and gloss coated.

Lobsters

The lobsters were created for the Goodman Theatre's production of Ah! Wilderness  in 2017. The director asked for whole lobsters that could be broken apart in the traditional manner one would while eating a lobster dinner.  I made a silicone mold of a frozen lobster body and claws, then I made hollow castings out of food safe urethane resin. The lobsters were airbrushed with acrylic ink. Hot dog buns were placed inside the tail and claws, so the actors would have something to eat during the scene. The lobsters were also fabricated so that they could be put back together for the next performance.

Raw Chicken

In the Goodman Theatre's production of Having Our Say in 2018 a raw chicken was required. The actor had to wash and stuff it every performance. Rather than use a real one every night, I was tasked to make as realistic a raw chicken as possible. I molded a real one with Body Double Silicone, then cast it in Eco-Flex 0030 Silicone. I used Pyscho Paint to detail it. Considering the mold required the inside cavity of the chicken, it was a bit tricky. In the end, the movement of the chicken was great.

Raw Chicken

Raw Chicken

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Hambone

The Hambone was created for the Goodman Theatre's production of Two Trains Running in 2015. It was made by make a mold of an actual ham, then casting it in silicone. The director wanted it to have the weight and sound for when the actor slammed it on the table, making silicone the obvious choice of material.

Pizzas

Two Pizzas were built for the Goodman Theatre's New Stages project, one frozen and one cooked. The were made by building a clay wall on a silicone mat, the soft expanding foam was poured in and brushed to make a thin layer. After the crusted were painted, the frozen cheese was made with shredded paper, and the melted cheese was cotton and latex. The pepperoni was craft foam with a layer of latex for texture. The las pizza is simply pink insulation foam with a layer of Foam IT 5 brushed on. SC-325, dyed slightly yellow, was brushed over the cheese postion to make it look greasy. The burnt cheese on the crust are dabs of hot glue, and the meat was craft foam pepperoni and paper mache bits for the sausage. Then the whole thing was painted, and I think this was an easier and more effective approach than the first one. Lesson learned! 

Brisket and Ribs

These were created for the Goodman Theatre's Lottery Day in 2019. The actors were going to rub spices on them during the show, so they had to be as realistic as possible. I cast actual meat (which is always smelly) in Body Double silicone. Then, for the ribs I first put in a yellowish fat layer of Eco Fles silicone, and then the red colored silicone was poured into the mold. The end result meant I didn't have to paint it. The brisket was cast in Soma Foama, which is an expanding silicone foam. I had never used it belore, and it worked out great. It was light and cost effective. The detail it captured impressed me too. It was cast as reddish, then Pyscho Paint was used to finish it off.

Miscellaneous

The chicken was made the same way as the Christmas Goose. Expanding foam was used for making buns on the pulled pork sandwiches. Craft foam was used to make the bow tie pasta. The potato salad is Great Stuff foam, and the coleslaw is shredded paper. The lettuces wraps were crumbled foam, latex, and store bought plastic leaves. The potatoes are expanding foam, made from a silicone mold. The dirty plates was made with rice and silicone. The cakes were made from insulation foam and Super 88 for the icing. Patch N' Paint was used for the piping and the flowers. I cast frozen shrimp with Body Double Silicone, then cast with expanding foam. A layer of latex was brushed on to give it a bit of a sheen before painting. The pinnekjøtt (Norwegian for "stick meat") was sculpted and molded, then cast inexpanding foam. The Hawaiian ham was simply carved foam with a latex skin, since no one touched it.

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