[SML] Prop body

[Dougherty, Jim]

If store-bought is an option, Dapper Cadaver has a few choices:

https://www.dappercadaver.com/collections/stunt-dummies

If for other reasons you need to make your own, we've gone a few different ways:

- Cut pretty simple shapes from muslin (almost like a ginger bread cookie), sew together, and stuff with batting or crumpled paper like a pillow when we needed a lot of them;
- Start with a garment (jumpsuit or sewn-together pants and shirt) and stuff it, using a wig head or similar;
- Same, but start with an internal skeleton so it bends where it should.  Pieces of wood or pipe where the long bones are, joined with zip ties or string, can suffice.  We've used splints cut from PVC pipe to heat-bend ribs as well, but that was when a ribcage needed to show.  You can also add weight with this option if it needs it.
- Borrow a rescue dummy from your local fire department, EMS agency, fire academy, etc.  These are often weighted, which can be a good or bad thing.  There are options built around the sandbag design (look up Smart Dummy) as well as hard-plastic-with-joints (look up Rescue Randy).  The latter are harder to dress.
- Use a plastic skeleton (look up Bucky skeletons), reinforce joints as necessary for stage use, pad, clothe

Good luck!  If it were closer to the end of October I'd mention that a locally sourced organic body is a much more environmentally sound option than any of the artificial, non-biodegrading options above.

- Jim Dougherty
Middlebury College Theatre Department