Wayne,
Back when I ran the guitar program at Northern Kentucky University,
I successfully petitioned the music department to purchase a ten course
lute for the guitar students to use. At some point the theatre faculty
asked the music department chair if there happened to be a lute laying
around that could be used as a prop in a Shakespeare production.
Next thing you know, I got an email from the chair telling me I
must deliver the lute to the theatre people on such and such a date. I
told him that would be like flushing the music department's funds down
the toilet. Luckily, at the time I happened to own a real beater oud
and I offered my own instrument up as a sacrificial lamb in place of
the lute. I'm glad I did because, despite a conversation with the
director about how the oud was a real instrument that should be treated
carefully, it came back with several nicks and a couple of strings
missing. I was happy for my property to take the hit, because I'm sure
the poor lute would have been crushed. I would rather not have tried my
luck getting the admin to repair or replace it.
I saw photos of the production and, while we would certainly
quibble with a modern oud in place of ren lute (no doubt someone on
here would begin a thread to specifically gripe about the synthetic
strings), I doubt any in the audience cared. As far as I know, the lute
is still owned by NKU guitar.
Chris
Christopher Wilke
Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer
www.christopherwilke.com
--- On Thu, 2/7/13, wayne cripps <[email protected]> wrote:
From: wayne cripps <[email protected]>
Subject: [LUTE] lutes for theatre?
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013, 7:18 AM
Hi -
I regularly get requests from theatre people to rent a lute for a
play. Are there regular theatre rental companies who would have prop
lutes that a theatre company could rent? Something tough that looks
like a lute to the audience? It seems like there must be a market for
such a thing.
Wayne
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References
1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
