Marshall

This production required a dead black swan that was to be dragged through the house and onto the stage by its neck. I started by carving the head from pink insulation foam. For strength, I covered the beak with gauze soaked with Off-Broadway paint. The neck was made from a piece of aircraft cable wrapped in pipe insulation and then packing foam, all adhered with FlexBond and tape. The entire neck and head was then coated with Foamcoat and then the beak was sanded and painted with Off-Broadway paint. I carved out eye sockets and inserted black marbles for eyes. The feet were created by sandwiching a wire armature between layers of dipped gauze. The body of the bird was constructed from layers of upholstery foam attached together and to a plywood spine with FlexBond. I then covered the body and attached upholstery foam wings with more dipped gauze. I covered the head, neck, wing undersides, and breast with fake fur trimmed to the appropriate texture. I individually hot-glued approximately 500 goose feathers over the rest of the body. Later, the bird was treated with hairspray, Christmas flocking, spray paint, spray adhesive, and styrofoam beads to give it a frozen appearance.