The production opens with the story of 'Bluebeard', a dark and bloody tale in which the climax comes when Bluebeard's new wife discovers the decomposed bodies of his past wives hanging in cages in a secret room - a gruesome spectacle. Head of Props, Bill Talbot, talks about how they went about
making the brides' bodies and in particular how each one was made to look as though in a different stage of decay.
In 'The Juniper Tree' there are two memorable scenes where props play a crucial role in the drama: first, when the boy's head is knocked off, and second, the last scene when the bird, who represents the spirit of the dead boy, rises up Phoenix-like from under the tree where the boy's bones are buried.
The fake head looks very realistic as it was actually modelled from the actor Kelly Williams' head. Peter Reynolds' rehearsal Diary tells how Kelly Williams got
a head start to the second week of rehearsals by undergoing a procedure that turned out to be as taxing as almost anything she experienced in the rehearsals and performance of Beasts and Beauties. She tells us that the experience of
making the wax head was very uncomfortable and claustrophobic, since at one point her head was completely encased in the heavy plaster used to make the cast.
Making the bird in 'The Juniper Tree' presented a particular creative challenge for Bill Talbot. Director and designer Melly Still tells us about
portraying the bird and how she wanted it made from metallic kitchen utensils to bring to mind the kitchen where the child was dismembered. Bill Talbot talks about
how the bird was made and how he found parts for it, such as a corkscrew to act as the mechanism for flapping the bird's wings.