I need help with Witch maek up.  I have access to anything I need - fake noses, latex, etc.

I need our witch to look scary and ugly but then she needs to be able to pretty much rip the ugly face off and be pretty.  But I don't want it to look fake - like she's pretty but has a fake nose on.  Or an obvious mask from the nose up.

Any thoughts??

Thanks  - Nyria

I hate to break the news to you, but unless your
audience is entirely made up of 17th century
Puritans, they are going to KNOW the witch is fake.

That being said, give the modern audience some
credit for their willing suspension of disbelief -- you'll
be able to get away with a lot of supposedly
"fake-looking" make-up techniques that people will
gladly accept for stage that they'd be unwilling to
accept for film or TV. Especially for fantasy
characters in a faerie-tale play like "Into the Woods."
(Nobody complained that the dancers in "Cats" didn't
look like "real" cats.)

I suggest your actress use a good-quality theatrical
make-up base (such as Ben Nye products) and then
coat whatever latex appliances you may have (nose,
chin, ears, etc) with that same product. Use a
heavier latex and don't bother feathering the edges.
From a distance, the blending will be close enough.   
The addition of stick-on warts, eyebrows and
what-have-you will distract the audience's eye.

Don't use spirit gum to adhere the latex or
hair-pieces, instead use double-sided toupee tape,
cut to size. "TopStick" is a brand that's used most
often in this instance. Be sure to powder afterwards,
especially the hair-pieces, to remove any shine
peeking through.

Unless your actress sweats profusely, the
double-side tape should adhere adequately and can
be "ripped off" with much less irritation to the skin or
damage to the latex than spirit gum would afford.

I have used this technique quite successfully for
quick-change make-ups.   Best of luck to you!

Besides make up & accessories, don?t forget the lighting & enhancing all the shadows, that are created by the set &/or actor. Choice of gel - splits, these work well, in an ?out of focus? [tweaked] fresnel lamp, as a ?Follow Lime? on the actor!

Even with limited lamps in a ?Gymeatre? there is a lot of low tech things you can do to enhance the mise en scene.

Depending upon the type of hard edge Profile light your using as a Lime/Drummond/Dome spot, you can add home made Gobo?s & sinister gel colours & put the bubble [globe] out of focus or use shutters to soften the edges.

Home made gobo?s are easy to produce from old printers offset plates, these you can usually pick up from their rubbish bins, as they tend to chuck them out, even if they recycle their waste, they are of no real value so you can always get some.

They are made of aluminum foil and can be cut easily. Possibly a ?Breakup? gobo is all you need for tree leaves. Just get a nail & punch rough holes in the plate, after you cut it to the size of the drop in slot, where the Iris normally fits, between the bubble & the lens. If it doesn?t have a colour magazine fitted to the spot light or gel frames, you can make your own with a cardboard frame to hold the gel.

Also to increase you light output on to the stage area, use mirrors to bounce the light, with the lamp in the ?Z? position on the floor, mounted on a ?Turtle Stand? focused into the mirror, this need not be a theatre lamp, as any type of portable back yard portaflood will do.

Best of luck & chookas Nyria.