5 Photos

The body is actually Marks'. But when he is killed, he is disguised as Bedard's character, Posthumus, so everyone believes the beloved Posthumus is dead. (Photo: TBD/TBD | Date: Feb. 02, 2011)

Part four in an occasional series about actors holding their prop severed heads. Previously: Inside the Head of Daniel Sumegi, Joe Palka's head is in his hands, Chris Dinolfo's head has rolled.

I'm not sure TBD's coverage of actors cradling their prop severed heads can get any better than the Shakespeare Theatre's Cymbeline. For the first time in this series, there's a headless body to go with that prop head. And though that body belongs to wicked character of Cloten, he is killed while wearing the stolen clothes of a prince, Posthumus, causing his beloved wife Imogen to believe that he is dead. That means two actors share one head, and one very disgusting bloody neck stump on a body.

The body represents that of actor Leo Marks, who plays Cloten. Marks and prop body have the same costume as Mark Bedard, who plays Posthumus. The head is one of 20 (!!) that the Shakespeare Theatre's prop shop has on hand. They built the body specifically for the show to contain a "blood receptacle" in the neck stump that can hold a small quantity of blood for when Gretchen Hall, who plays Imogen, marks herself with the blood that she believes is her husband's.

"This is absurd," says Bedard, posing with Marks and the prop body for the first time.

"What do you find absurd? I don't get it," jokes Marks. They're playing catch with the severed head.

Like most of the actors who have worked with prop severed heads on stage, neither Marks nor Bedard had really spent any time with the body parts, because they never appear on stage at the same time as these props.

"I have spent some time with my hands. The hands [on the prop body] were cast from my hands," says Marks. "I sat for an hour, an hour and a half, and I was swathed in levels of green and purple goo. I would have no idea those were my hands. They're much bigger."

"The hands swell after one's head is cut off," says Bedard.

"I guess that's true," says Marks.

"It was also believed that the same actor in Shakespeare's day might have played both parts," says Bedard. "So when she's mistaking the body, she's crying, 'It's the same hands!' and it's kind of like an inside joke."

Other than the time spent casting his hands, Marks says he's had one encounter with his prop body.

"[Props run crew member] Mick [Coughlan] and I first met when I stepped backstage and my body was in the chair, and Mick was adjusting the body, but what it looked like—" Marks, laughing, demonstrates a big thrusting motion as he pretends to straddle the body, "—And he heard the door open and he turned around and our eyes met. And it was one of the most disturbing moments I've ever had."

"I was putting on his leather coat, and the arms don't bend all the way back, so it's hard to do," says Coughlan.

Coughlan's job is to prepare all of the props before they go on stage, which includes mixing the five different recipes for fake blood. He uses a margarita blender to mix it.

"It looks like Kool-Aid because it's in one-gallon jugs," says Coughlan. "We have Mr. Yuk stickers on each of the jugs to make sure that people don't drink it and mistake it for Kool-Aid."

"That's what those labels are for? Dang it," jokes Bedard.

"I thought it was, if you're in a bad mood, try this," says Marks.

Plenty of blood was used on the bag that contains Marks' severed head. It was too expensive and time-consuming to produce a realistic, molded severed head, so the decision was made to conceal the head in a burlap sack. Not being able to see the head also makes it scarier.

"I think Rebecca [Balya Taichman], our director, made the decision," says Marks. "She said she had been warned by a director friend of hers who had done Cymbeline and had cast a head of the Cloten. He had warned her that when that head comes on, the gales of laughter will stop the show. It will absolutely end the scene. I don't think it was only a question of the hassle of it, it was an artistic call."

This is the first time Marks has been beheaded in a show.

"I once did a production of The Balcony, by Jean Genet," he says. "I played the chief of police who, um, emasculates himself. That's the only body part I've previously lost. The props department was not involved."