We are doing a production of A Christmas Carol that has the RIP Ebeneezer Scrooge tombstone on the bottom of a trunk.  The trunk is tipped up at the appropriate moment and voila! Tombstone!  Then the trunk falls forward.  I want to make a realistic looking stone but it has to be thin enough to fit on the bottom outside of a trunk that is on stage during the entire play. And whatever we make it out of/paint it with, has to be durable enough not to chip or break when it is slammed down again.  Any suggestions? 

My first post--but I love reading this board.  Thanks!

Beth

I like Lindas idea. I was going to sugest small feet like you might find on the bottom of a table leg so the trunk rest on the feet. I would use a hard surface(plywwod, MDF) instead of the foam to avoid damage. unless youe aduience sits right on the stage they won't know the letters are not carved in. a good painter can make it look 3D.

Another solution would be to make the tombstone
out of several sheets of plywood, glued and screwed
together. Build this up into whatever thickness you
desire.

With a jigsaw and drill, cut out the lettering from the
top layer of plywood. When attached to the second
layer, the letters will look carved into the "stone."

Don't worry about making the letters like a stencil,
simply cut out the outline of the letter and glue in the
smaller pieces (Like the two half-moon interiors of
letter "B" in Ebeneezer or the interior of "O" in
Scrooge).

This should be sturdy enough to be knocked around
quite a bit.