Bert Coules posted
For reason far too boring to go into (but related to a stage play) I
have to build a full-sized dummy person which has to disappear on cue.
The figure will be wearing a full-face mask and long flowing robes, and
they *don't* have to vanish: the effect should be that the man
disintegrates and the mask and robes just collapse, empty.

The Masque of the Red Death?



Any thoughts on how to construct the dummy figure? A lightweight head
and shoulders which support the robes, suspended and released from
above? A collapsible lazy-tongs arrangement rising from a base, again
with a dummy head at the top? An inflatable figure punctured with a
pin (and presumably patched up each night for the next show)?

The ensuing bang could perhaps be covered up by one of the cast
streaming loudly.

--
Jack