MAD Society Club Art Day Prep & Process (Costumes, Props & Backdrops)

Allow me to guide you through all the things I did to get my drama club to their Art day which as you saw included areas set up for making costumes, props & backdrops so you can easily do the same for your club!

You have a play script. Now what?

Someone needs to make all the aesthetic decisions and plans for your play. This can be a producer, director, club leader, a creative student or club member…it can be one person or a group of people.  That person or group of people should document all decisions in writing and hopefully with sketches or some kind of mood board.  This is where Pinterest will be very useful. 

Whoever that “someone” is will need to carefully read the play and imagine all the props, the fewest number of backgrounds and all the costumes needed to make it successful.  Less is more!  It’s better to aim for the bare minimum and make those elements look amazing than it is to stretch yourself too thin and have the play look cheap.  You can always add more visual elements later and ideally your drama club students will do that on their own because you have left room for creative add-ons and have not micromanaged the snot out of your show!  Find my video on turning your play into a Master Event Guide to help you with this process.

Decide what props need to be made, bought and borrowed. MAD Hint: Keep track of where things came from if borrowed.  It’s easy to forget.  

Next, have a separate day for planning out the Backdrops/Costumes/Props day beforehand to make plans for each costume, prop & backdrop, make drawings, find or write instructions and make a shopping list, make concept drawings, or you can just do all that as the leader without the input of others.  Whatever is least stressful (or more fun) for you.

I schedule 3 Art days for my club before our spring play practices start, and I cancel the last one if we get everything done, or done enough.  Each Art day is 3 hours long.

Ask for volunteers to take unfinished backdrops, props & costumes home with them to finish. Give them a deadline for getting them back to you and make sure it’s at least one week before the picture day for your club.

Warning! Pinterest is full of SMUT!  If you suggest Pinterest or use Pinterest with your students, make sure they are supervised and you tell them they need their parents permission first. It’s safer to print Pinterest images on paper. 

I have found that it is necessary to get the bulk of the costumes and props and backdrops done on days when there isn’t play practice because I think it helps everyone get into character and get excited about the play.  At the end of the first few practices I set up small projects that still need done and the artsy students love that. 

Getting props & costumes done early sets us up to do picture day within the first couple weeks of play practice so we can work on the playbill sooner & have images for advertising the play.  And it helps me to be able to close those art brain tabs and focus on the play and being a good leader. 

I have videos on how to make a backdrop frame and also how to paint backdrops so be sure to find those.

I would encourage having a “drop off” style art day where guardians do not stay to prevent extra distractions and noise from extra people.

Again, the students look forward to the art days because it really does feel like a party because there is no structured time, we play music, have everyone bring a snack or do something like order pizza, it’s just a refreshing break from our typical club meetings.

I fully recognize that this might be the most dreaded part of leading a drama group, especially if there are no adults who excel in drawing and painting.  My drama club is about the process, not the product.  Students want a reason, some inspiration, and a place to make and display art and creativity.  

Try avoiding aesthetic perfectionism, and thank you for being brave enough to give creative students a place to shine!

Find my Step-By-Step Backdrop Painting video to be guided through the backdrop process I have found to be easiest and most aesthetically pleasing or maybe my video on organizing costumes.

~Coach Baldwin