A group of RTS Wales Centre Members visited the company's prop store, situated behind S4C in Llanishen Business Park, on the 12th October.  Natalie Rolley (above), provided Members with a guided tour of the extraordinary range of items on show, which are grouped together in scenes.  "We find this helps clients, because the need for realism usually leads to them to think of additional items.  For example, we can advise on the props that might be required to dress a  prison cell set."  The company supplies a lot of props to the BBC's Drama Village, just down the road in Cardiff Bay, including the medical series, Casualty, but in that case, due to the demands of the production, they can't use any item that is red in colour.  "We had to supply props for charge nurse Charlie's 1970's flashback scene", Rolley added, "and for a recent episode of Dr Who we supplied a bust model of Beethoven, amongst other props."

There is an extensive seasonal demand for some props, with vigorous competition between production companies and theatre groups, for example at Halloween or Christmas.  "A lot of Schools are producing Les Miserables at the moment, so we get a lot of requests for rifles and tankards".  However perhaps one of the most unusual items kept by the company is a gigantic WC, "there's not much demand for that one", remarked Rolley.

 

Members also examined the vast range of televisions kept by the company, from some of the earliest post war models to the latest flat screens.  "We don't have any sets from the early 30s yet, but we're always on the look out", said Rolley.

 

 

To round off the visit, Members were treated to an imaginary banquet, featuring goblets, false grapes and a centrepiece Wild Boar's Head.  This was a fascinating visit which provided a very useful insight into the world of prop supply.