Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 11:33:53 +1000
From: jdalhsim-AT-netspace.net.au (Janet Dalgliesh)
Subject: Re: Help!!  Need ideas!


>our puppet group is performing sunday the bible story "moses and the manna
>from heaven".  i need some ideas for the manna.  we would literally like it
>to "fall from the sky".  we have a pvc pipe stage.  over the stage we can
>open a space in the ceiling and hide it with a cloud.  my thoughts and you
>can tell i'm not technical but....would this work?  to have a bucket (or
>some other sort of container)  filled with styrofoam, hooked to a fishing
>line and tip it over and the "manna" fall down?  *or* can you give me ideas
>how it will work?  and what would be best for the manna?  i want something
>thaat will float gently down, but visable so the kids can see.
>
>*any* ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!  thank you in advance,


Styrofoam is awful stuff once you let it loose!  One of the best materials
may be hard to come by these days - have you ever seen the thin papers used
by fans for rolling their owns cigarettes (either the legal or illegal
versions)?

Well, those papers always have triangular cuts on one edge, and the
companies which make them will sometimes give you the offcuts - little tiny
white triangles of lightweight paper that float down from above
beautifully!

Failing that, try getting large white confetti or use the stuff collected
inside hole punches.

Paper is best because it doesn't get up your nose, in your eyes, under your
collar in the same way styrofoam will - and it doesn't have static cling.

If you want to have the manna fall for a long time, one way is to use a big
cardboard box hung in the flies with holes cut in one side.  The box needs
to have a lid and be closed.  Tip the box when required so that the holey
side is downward - someone will have to be up there to shake the box, or
you can suspend it from a rope harness which allows the box to be swung
back and forth to drop a shower of manna.

Experiment with size of holes, etc before the performance so you get the
effect you want.

Alternatively, just have someone up there to sprinkle it - then you can
have it exactly where you want it.

Good luck!  Cheers, Janet

**************************************************
Janet Dalgliesh and Hugh Simpson

jdalhsim-AT-netspace.net.au

"Poverty is the greatest violence"

Mahatma Ghandi




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