The Design Process

This week on Life in a Technical Theatre World, we’re looking at the design process, and all of the programs that help designers with the process.

Typically, the process will start months and months before any opening night or before a show has even been cast! The first thing that a company or a panel of directors will do is pick the show. Then the script will get analyzed very carefully by everyone involved. The director is looking for character choices, beat changes, and the overall theme of the show among many other things. The costume designer is taking his/her cues from the director, and trying to get an idea of time period or location. If you have a play set in a specific time period, then the costumes will have to fit that time period. The set designer reads the script, and if the playwright has given a specific setting, they go off of that. Some playwrights will give you paragraph and paragraphs of background, and others will give you nothing.

Specifically in the set design world, the first step is too figure out how you want it too look. Then you start to draw it out on paper, sketches of a sort. Once those have been approved by the director, the next step is to lay it all out in a program called Auto-CAD. The CAD stands for Computer Automated Design. This program is very difficult to learn, but once you do learn, you feel very proud of yourself. This program makes it easy for you to print out a plan for something like a wall with dimensions, so you can hand it to a carpenter to build. Once the set is laid out in Auto-CAD, it get’s transferred over to a program called SketchUp, which is a 3D modeling program so you can see the set as it will look when you build it. The designs are constantly changing because a myriad of problems can arise. One problem could be that you can’t build the set that is wanted on budget. Another could be that it’s just not possible in the time constraints. There are many things that have to be considered when building a set. You also have to make sure it’s structurally sound, so no actors are harmed.

Both of these programs are what we use here at HPU, I’m sure there are more programs out there that other theatres use as well.

The groundplan of the set below made in Auto-CAD

Potential set design made in SketchUp

Both of the pictures were made by me in my design class freshman year!

Check back next week for another post!

Life as a Playwright

Life as a playwright is not as glamorous as one might think. Last semester I took a class on play writing, with the chair of out theatre department Ed Simpson (who is also a published playwright). The class was very interesting and by the end we had written a one-act play. I enjoyed the class, although having our plays acted out in the final was a little scary!

The struggle of being a playwright is the need to come up with both a good idea and compelling characters. If you don’t have a solid base, then it will all come crashing down. The first step is to come up with an idea. You will have hundreds, some will be absolutely terrible, some will be okay, but one will be perfect. The perfect one is the one that you expand on.

Then you create the characters. The goal is to create a compelling character who people will identify with. Hopefully, you have a picture of what they look like in your head so you can write a character description. Some playwrights have a very specific idea of what the character is supposed to look like, and will give you paragraphs of character description. Others (such as Shakespeare) give you nothing. Sometimes all you get is “CHARACTER NAME enters” (again, Shakespeare). It’s nice for directors to have some guidance, but not so much that it’s impossible to cast.

Now comes the hard part, the writing. You have to sit down and bring these characters and this story to life. You will do rewrites. SO many rewrites. You will be rewriting up until opening night sometimes. Often, playwrights will write the play, then take it to a group of actors who do a read through, and then get feedback from the actors and the audience. This could potentially go on for months. Then if you’re lucky, someone will want to produce your play, so production starts.

Again during the rehearsal process you will be making new discoveries, and rewriting parts as you go along. Eventually the play does open, and hopefully it’s a success. HPU is currently helping a playwright through this developmental process right now. John Cariani (he wrote the show Almost Maine) is currently workshopping one of his plays at HPU, and our department is premiering it as one of our shows next semester.

Currently in the HPU Theatre Department, we are working on our third show of the year aptly named Night Of The Originals. It’s a night of plays written by previous and current students. It opens this week March 19th! Get your tickets from the box office in Hayworth Fine Arts!

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Life in Commedia Dell’Arte

Commedia is a very specific kind of theatre performance. It began in Italy in the 16th Century, where it continued to be a very popular act to watch though the 18th century. This style is still seen today in some form, in musical theatre, or in comic tv shows. To understand the style, you first need to understand stock characters.

Stock characters are characters that are based on a stereotype and that stereotype is their biggest characteristic. The main players in a commedia show are variations of the following stock characters. You know these characters by their movements and actions. They are highlighted in the way the actor walks and interacts with other actors.

First there is Pantalone, who is typically serious and is a merchant. His characteristic generally has something to do with money. Then there is Il Dotore (The Doctor), he is generally a scholar, the smart one. His characteristic typically involves a thinking pose, or something that looks smart. Another character is Il Capitano (The Capitan), who is an arrogant swashbuckling scoundrel. His characteristic will generally be something grand and exciting. Those are just a few of the many characters who come into play in this style of theatre.

Capitano http://www.zinnfigur.com/images/2/3/213_73.JPG

Patalone http://www.zinnfigur.com/images/2/9/213_79.JPG

I am currently assistant stage managing HPU’s upcoming production of The Servant of Two Masters. This production involves the commedia style heavily. While sitting in rehearsal this afternoon, I watched our actors go through all of the different stock characters, and I cannot wait to see this show! The show opens in the beginning of April, so be sure to get your tickets when they go on sale!

Check back next week for another post!