Back in September 2020 I was asked if I would make a prop for a play which Taboo Theatre Company, a locally based actors’ collective, was to perform in November of that year, at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton, Dorset.  The play had been written especially for them by professional playwright Sue Ashby.  Sue has written, among other TV and theatre scripts,  episodes of Coronation Street (a very popular, long-running soap in the UK).  More details of Sue’s career can be found here  https://news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/dorset-history-centre-blog/2023/07/24/historical-plays-set-in-north-dorset/

You will no doubt guess from the dates that we were out of the first Covid19 lockdown, but still under strict mask wearing, social distancing and other rules and regulations. The play, “Flea the Pandemic Dorset 1348”, tells the story of the first Bubonic Plague to hit the UK; so, given that it was rat fleas that carried the Black Death, the prop obviously had to be a flea.

Bearing in mind that the stage at The Exchange is 23 feet (7m) deep and its proscenium arch is 40 feet (12m) wide, and that the hall it serves is 118 feet (36m) deep and normally capable of seating 301 audience members, making a flea that a full audience could see was going to be a problem.  This was to be a play not a pantomime, so having an actor play the flea was not going to happen. (I don’t think that it had been decided, at this stage in the proceedings, that most of the action would take place on a much smaller podium constructed on the floor of the hall.)

After some (socially distanced) discussion with Craig White (director) and Robert Cowley (actor/producer), it was decided that the flea should be about the size of a cat, and be fixed on the end of a long enough pole to allow the cast member, who had to control its movements between the (socially distanced) actors, to do so without getting closer than 6 feet to any of them.

If I remember rightly, it was at this stage that my husband Graham became involved, not only to provide the pole, but also to work out how to enable the flea’s head to move and for its eyes to light up bright red.

With the help of Mr Google, I found some reference images of fleas (cat fleas in the end because the oriental rat flea which carried the bubonic plague was not that different in appearance but seemed not so photogenic).  I enlarged a side view of a flea to fit on A3 paper, and having found a “full face” view of the head, I also enlarged that to a similar size.  Quite fascinating really in a revolting way.

I had initially thought to make the whole flea from felt, but, because there had to be batteries, wires and an electrical switch concealed somewhere about its person, I had to change my ideas somewhat.  I’m afraid that I do not have any progress photos, nor do I have any notes of how we proceeded.  This was before I joined the Studio and it didn’t occur to me that anyone else might be interested in how we did it.  Luckily The Flea  was not disposed of after the performances so I have been able to examine it to jog my memory of the steps we took to produce it.

The body of the flea was made from three pieces of dyed and stiffened calico – two sides and a belly gusset – with its segments and spiracles painted on.  This was stretched over carved lumps of polystyrene.  The switch and wiring for the eyes and the battery pack were attached to a 6 foot long metal pipe, where it passed through the inside of the body from the neck to the “tail” end.

The head, which was separate from the body so that it could be moved, was needle felted from brown wool (I can’t remember the breed) with mouthparts made from painted foam, plastic wire insulation coating and more painted and stiffened calico.

Graham had to come up with a method of allowing the head to move and the eyes to keep glowing red, all without breaking the connection between the eyes and the wires running from the battery pack or those wires being tied in knots.

The method he came up with sounded extremely complicated to me, but then I’ve never had to put lights in a miniature building or lamp post.  A circular piece of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) with a hole cut into the centre was attached to the flea’s “neck” at the top of the body, where the pipe was also firmly fixed.  The PCB had the ends of the battery pack wires, through which the current would pass, soldered to it.

The wires from the red LED eyes in the head were soldered to another circular piece of PCB  and the head was sewn to this (Graham having pierced suitable holes in it for the purpose).

The head was attached to a piece of wooden dowelling long enough to pass right through the neck piece of PCB and on through the pipe inside the body and protrude from the pipe’s “handle” end.  This ensured that, so long as the two pieces of PCB were in contact, once the eyes were “switched on” they stayed on until switched off again, even when the flea was “looking around for it’s next meal” as the actor twisted the end of the dowel.

The belly gusset on the underside of the body, which allowed the switch to be reached and the batteries changed as necessary, was closed with extra large snap fasteners for convenience (in case the manipulating actor was male!)

The Flea’s leg segments were needle felted in the same wool as the head and wired, with the claw ends just being fabric covered and painted for colour and stiffness.  These were affixed to the flea’s thorax with wire and thread.

After we had handed The Flea over to Taboo, but before the play could be performed in November 2020, Covid raised it’s ugly head again and we went into the second lockdown.  As a result the performances were re-scheduled to the end of January 2021.  Unfortunately because of the post-lockdown rules and regulations, which effectively prevented The Exchange from re-opening in time, the play had to be postponed – again.

It was eventually performed on the 19^th & 20^th June 2021.

If you would like to see a critique of the play, try this link: https://www.theftr.co.uk/flea-the-pandemic-taboo-theatre-the-exchange-sturminster-newton/ It will tell you more about the plot, as well as the action.  Unfortunately the images which were originally posted with the review have had to be removed, but the reviewer, Gay Pirrie-Weir very kindly provided the four images of “The Flea Acting” which you see below.  I must say that it appears that the lighting techie has turned the actors and The Flea, as well as the set, purple.  I’m forever having this problem with costumes and props changing colour on stage – grrrr!

Oh, and we mustn’t forget The Mayor – you will need to read the Gay’s review mentioned above to learn about him.