For Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Play!, I designed and fabricated a variety of specialty props that combined playful cartoon aesthetics with durable engineering for daily performances. Many of the props incorporated hidden mechanisms or structural solutions that allowed them to function as visual gags while withstanding repeated handling throughout the production's month-long run.

One of the production's signature props was a melting ice cream cone. The waffle cone was fabricated from EVA foam, while the ice cream swirls were constructed from fabric lightly filled with polyfill to maintain their sculpted form. A concealed pull-string mechanism, threaded through the cone and attached to the interior of the fabric swirl, allowed the actor to gradually draw the "melting" ice cream into the cone during the scene, creating the illusion that it was disappearing before the audience's eyes.

Another unique challenge involved designing a whimsical toy that needed to be flown approximately twenty feet above the stage, lowered to the actors, pulled apart during the performance, and immediately reassembled. To withstand the repeated stress of performance, I built the prop around an internal plywood frame that carried the structural load while allowing the exterior foam to remain lightweight and visually playful. The individual sections were engineered to interlock mechanically while embedded neodymium magnets reinforced the connections, allowing the toy to separate and reconnect quickly while maintaining its shape through daily use.

Additional work for the production included fabricating oversized cartoon envelopes that remained visually legible from a distance and modifying a variety of costume accessories and hand props to support the production's stylized, storybook aesthetic.