Drinkable breakaway wineglass

[Garrettgb]

Hi,
Working for a theatre producing Ayckbourn's Snake in the Grass and needing to have wine glasses that can break safely on stage but also be drank from in the scene leading up to the break.
We've explored various breakaway urethane options, as well as candy glass, but neither seem to have the ability to contain liquid, not make that liquid toxic for consumption to the actor and break relatively safely.
I know this show has been done dozens if not hundreds of times and there must be an elegant solution out there. Can anybody suggest a product, either to use with a mold, or ready-made, that would work in this scenario?
Cheers,
Garrett G. Barker
Neptune Theatre
Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

[Van]

I had to do a similar thing with a glass vase years ago. We wound up, after butt-tons of testing, using Rosco's "crystal gel" painted on the inside surface. This allowed for the glass to break, but the resulting pieces stayed together, more, and the little shards kind of clumped. I hope there is a better solution out there as this version is still fraught with 'potential' issues; there is nothing preventing a small shard from bouncing and winding up in an eye. If I were to to do this with a wine glass I wanting to remain clear I would:

Put the wine glass top down on some packing tape.

Run an Xacto around the rim to trim the tape as tightly as possible to the diameter of the opening.

Hold the glass by the stem and dip to the point where the stem meets the bowl.

Hang the glass in a 'wine glass rack' so it's supported by the base.

Now, since you diluted the gel you're going to need a couple coats. You're Diluting the gel so it will dry clear with no thick spots that will cloud or make the glass look funny. Repeat the process a couple times for the base and stem, supporting the bowl while drying so the base doesn't stick to a surface.

Like I said, this is NOT a cure all solution! There is still inherent danger to the actor and the glass will need to be cleaned and the area mopped regularly to ensure all glass fragments are cleaned up. Also, designating a specific area that the glass can be thrown than somehow mitigates the flying shrapnel would be great. A fight Choreographer may be able to assist with this.

In Albees "The Goat" the female lead has to stand in the middle of the stage and thrown a vase/urn onto the floor and shatter it, night after night, after night. I was always afraid some shard would careen into the audience. The wood floor suffered greatly.

 

[TheaterEd]

Is there really no way to just switch out the real glass with the break away one when it's time for the stunt? I feel like what you really need is proper blocking to mask the switch and you're set.

 

[Amiers]

I've been thinking this over since you posted.

I would suggest making it with isomalt. It is still a sugar base but make the wine glass super thick.

Now this is where expermints will come into play. The thickness of the glass will depend on how long the liquid will be in the glass. Cause as you have ran into the glass with "melt" when liquid touches the glass.

Slight of hand as theaterEd meantioned is a great solution.

Hiding wine glasses in wine bottles is a good trick. Have a cluster of bottles with bottoms cut out and use it to hide the real one stuff like that. A turn switch and pour or reverse depending on blocking works as well.

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Good luck and don't forgot to show us your results.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Have you contact Alfonso's to see what they recommend? They're usually pretty helpful.