Book Review: Bloody Brilliant by Jennifer McClure

Bloody Brilliant: How to Develop, Execute, and Clean Up Blood Effects for Live Performance by Jennifer McClure is a much-needed resource filling a vacuum in the record of performance production documentation.

McClure provides a brief history of blood and blood effects in performance, dating back to Greek theatre (which arose concurrent with gladiatorial combat as another form of entertainment) up through the Grand Guignol to the present day. 

All aspects are covered, from planning the effect with the input of the many other people involved, choosing a blood product/recipe that will do what you need, implementation, and cleaning up afterward. McClure even addresses alternative ways to stage bloody scenes without messy blood products at all, through various theatrical effects employing lighting, fabrics, and what one of my professors called "flingables" (confetti, ribbons, glitter, etc).

Highly recommend this title for an in-house backstage theatrical library and as a textbook in propbuilding classes, as well as a reference manual for costume wardrobe supervisors.

Disclosure: I am a fellow author published by Focal Press. This review was neither solicited nor sponsored.