In Theatre Horizon’s ‘sandblasted,’ an actor loses an arm onstage. How did they do that?

There is a bit in Theatre Horizon’s sandblasted where one of the characters, Odessa, has her arm fall off. It’s an uncommon scene for a play, and a difficult moment to stage. Rarely do we see a central character lose a limb, and then carry it off stage with them. But if you know the Norristown theater company’s penchant for innovative theatrical techniques, you’d probably not be surprised.

Written by Charly Evon Simpson, sandblasted tells the story of two Black women who are (quite literally) falling apart. They search through the desert to find one Oprah-like guru who they believe can help. The dystopian metaphor highlights the struggles Black women face in society.

“I looked into a lot of different options, including mannequin arms,” Jo Vito Ramírez, the prosthetics designer behind the spectacle, said. “But the director wanted something as real as possible, something fleshy.”

Inspired by the arms that medical students use to practice injections on, they settled on a process using silicone to create arealistic arm. The first step was to make a cast of actor Jessica Johnson’s arm using an alginate compound, with her arm submerged in it for exactly 12 very still minutes. Any movement would create a suction vacuum and destroy some of the inner structures of the mold.

Next, Ramírez used a vacuum sealer to remove any excess air bubbles and poured the silicon mixture into the mold. What came out was a very floppy silicone arm, mixed to match Johnson’s skin tone.

Then came the struggle of making the arm fall off during the show. Ramírez decided on a shoulder brace which covers Johnson’s entire shoulder and straps around her chest. This gives the actor much-needed stability, and Ramírez the ability to attach a series of shackle bolts and a wooden dowel to the arm. The bolts connect to each other, and are attached to an unlocking mechanism, connected to the shoulder brace with a wire. Johnson’s real arm stays folded here and when the time comes, she just pulls a string and drops the prosthetic arm.

Timing is, obviously, key. An overanxious pull and the arm could fall off too soon. Johnson had to relearn how to use her body to make it seem like the prosthetic arm is actually her arm. What the audiences witness is theatrical magic put together with a lot of practice.

Sandblasted runs through June 4, and with Theatre Horizon’s new tiered ticket pricing, it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg (I couldn’t help myself) to see it.

“Sandblasted” runs through June 4. Theatre Horizon, 401 DeKalb St., Norristown. theatrehorizon.org/sandblasted.