the catholic figurines:

In The Lonesome West, the two main characters are brothers, Valene and Coleman, who are constantly at each other’s throats. Valene has a set of cherished Catholic Figurines that he keeps on the fireplace mantle. Three times during the show, his brother Coleman destroys them. First he puts them into a pot and melts them in Valene’s brand new stove. Valene replaces them, but they continue to be broken as the brothers bicker, and during the final climactic fight, Coleman smashes them into tiny pieces. So, we needed hundred of figurines to create these effects. The first set was reusable — they appeared to be melted but actually we switched the set with a pot full of gooey half melted figures via a hidden door in the back of our stove. For the second set, we needed between 25 and 48 figures to be smashed onstage every night. For this effect, I worked with our tireless student props designer, Davin Roark, to create plaster-of-paris molds. We manufactured hundreds of the figures and students hand painted them. Davin also created the recipe for the gooey melted figures. (see below)