Coffee On-Stage

[Dylandtech]

So, I'm the PSM for my schools production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone by August Wilson and we have to have the characters drink coffee onstage. The director doesnt want to use actual coffee, so if anyone has any good ideas for a non staining liquid that will represent coffee. I think we should just use cold coffee (even though its gross). Opinions?

 

[Footer]

Ask the actor what they like to drink that is dark in color. Flat soda will work as well as chocolate milk/hot chocolate.

 

[Van]

Seems every Stage Manager I know has their own favorite fake version of every drink ever known to man. I don't know why it's the SM's and not the Prop guys , But inevitably it's the SM who steps up and says, " Oh I always use xxx to make brandy".
Coffee can be made with a dark apple juice, flat coke, or really dark decaf tea, if the issue is the caffeine.

 

[metti]

You can always just mix the right shade of food coloring and use properly colored water. Shouldn't taste bad since it is just water but it will stain. That said, I am having trouble thinking up a legitimately non-staining brown colored fluid.

 

[JBrennan]

Already been said but flat coke works like a charm in my experience. I've had actors request diet coke, caffeine free, etc. so you may want to check and make sure there are no dietary restrictions before choosing your final substitute.

 

[kiwitechgirl]

I use caramel - you can buy it at homebrew shops as it's used to tint spirits. Useful for making everything from white wine through to coffee and everything in between - just dilute with water until you get the desired colour, plus if you want to make blackcurrant juice look like red wine, a drop or two of caramel will give it the required opacity. We always have a bottle in the SM kitchen!

 

[jonliles]

For "Chinese Coffee" we brewed a pot on stage - just for effects (visual, audible and sense of smell). The Actor hated coffee, so when he "poured" his cup of coffee, the cup was preloaded with Diet Coke. It was your standard run of the mill ceramic coffee mug, not like any one could see what he was drinking to begin with in that small Black Box.

 

[icewolf08]

It was your standard run of the mill ceramic coffee mug, not like any one could see what he was drinking to begin with in that small Black Box.

This is a really important point, even in most small spaces, unless the cups are glass, odds are no one in the audience will know what it is in the cup. If it is a proscenium space there is no real need for concern in this matter at all. The front row is so far away, no one will know if there is anything at all! For the fraction of an inch of pouring distance, it probably doesn't matter. Just get something that is somewhat close that the actors are OK with drinking.