If you don’t know what to do with that old trunk, Granddad’s top hat, the portrait of great-great Aunt Lucy, etc., the theatre may be calling!

Theatres use period props, decoration, and costumes.  There may be a theatre or theatre group in your area that would love to have that old lamp nobody wants.  Period pieces can help make an authentic atmosphere on stage, and set designers are often seeking pieces to use in their productions.  So while great-great Aunt Lucy (3 greats?) never made it to Vaudiville, she may still have a shot at the local county college’s production of Our Town!

We should note that, as the fiduciary, executors should know the value of items they donate.  However, de minimis personal property, or estate items, not material to the value of the estate are much better served on stage than in the local landfill.  Another option may be to take the potential theater items yourself, as a beneficiary, and donate them directly.  You may want to discuss with the beneficiaries, and the estate attorney.  Perhaps the beneficiaries have theatres in their area that are seeking props, decorations, or costumes.

Here is a list of items that theatres may be interested in:

• Period Lamps
• Trunks
• Vintage Suitcases
• Vintage clothes – all periods
• Telephones
• Table cloths
• Candlesticks
• Old portraits/paintings

Donating a few pieces from the estate to the local theatre is one way of honoring your loved one’s place in the community by supporting the community.  You can quickly find out if local theatres want your items.  Call.  Send photos.  It is important to understand that theatres are not in the cleanout business. Nor are they in the thrift or resale business.  Therefore, theatre managers and set designers may be reticent to say, “Come on over! Back up the truck to the Stagedoor!“

The reality, in most theatres, is that storage space is often tight.  Please don’t be offended if the theatre folks don’t want your stuff, or want to cherry-pick.

Donating to theatres fosters local arts, encourages creativity, and helps keep live performance accessible to audiences. Donations directly impact the quality and authenticity of theatrical productions in your community.  Theatres rely on props and costumes to bring stories to life, but many operate on limited budgets, especially community and educational theatres. Donations of props and costumes help reduce production costs while enhancing the authenticity of performances.

These contributions also support sustainability by giving items a second life.

As executors seek dissolution of a loved one’s possessions, the family treasures, the estate contents, it may be a taxing, grueling slog.  It may be emotional and fraught with challenge after challenge.  For this reason, finding receptive, positive places for the personal property that can live on and do some good downstream, and that may help remedy some of the difficulty.

Or better yet, take in a show, and see Aunt Lucy on stage.