Act I—Courtyard. Properties required:
1. Bench for the squires to sit upon and later for Myles to stand upon. 2. An upright post, or pell, to be used by Myles when he practises with his sword. 3. An anvil to be placed in the armorer’s shop. 4. A ball for Myles.
Act II—Garden. Properties required:
1. Garden seat for Lady Anne to sit upon when she plays her lute. 2. A lute for Lady Anne. 3. A ball for Myles.
Act III—Great Hall. Properties required:
1. Throne for the king to sit upon. 2. A dais for the throne to rest upon. 3. A seat for the minstrel. 4. A carved oak chest, such as was usually seen in the great halls. 5. Royal carpet. 6. Hangings for the ladies’ gallery. 7. A lute for the minstrel.
Act IV—The tournament. Properties required:
1. A royal box. 2. A fence.
The bench in Scene I was made of wood and was a copy of a picture of an English XVth Century bench.
Sometimes there are properties and effects that take special ingenuity and skill. Many boys have unusual ability in solving these problems. In the first scene of Men of Iron an anvil was needed. One boy asked to be responsible for the anvil. There was a miniature anvil in the classroom that had been used the year before by the class that had given Sigurd, the Volsung. Now, what did he do? First, he drilled two holes into the top of the anvil and placed a strip of mica on the iron between the holes. Then he attached a thin coil of wire, about the size of that in an electric toaster, screwed it down into the holes, where it met the charged wires which came up through the holes in the anvil. When the current was turned on, the coil glowed red. This boy also made a hammer, which he fastened in the hand of the puppet armorer. From the hammer a long wire stretched upward to the controller, and then down behind the scenes to the socket. When the armorer struck the anvil with his hammer, brilliant sparks flew in every direction. Care was taken to strike the broad surface of the anvil top and to avoid striking the coil of wire. You will notice that he placed the mica and coil close to the edge, in order to give the armorer plenty of room for the strokes of his hammer.