conceiving the production

Conceiving the Production

Patterson, STAGE DIRECTINGStep 3

Stage Configurations

Stage Configurations

Thrust Stage

Stage configurations

Alley Stage

Lone Star

Found Stages

Any space originally intended for some other use reconfigured for a play such as…

StorefrontsWarehousesGymnasiumsSubway platforms

Boilerhouse Theatre, London

THE PROMPT BOOKLike a conductor’s score for a symphony, this is the director’s guide for a production. Its heart is a prepared copy of the script complete with notes, analysis, drawings, schedules, etc.

What to include in your prompt book

• Playwright’s background Notes on the play’s structure• Character analysis

Action-Personality-Functional traits• Aural notes• Ground plan• Unit breakdown (french scene analysis)• Planning calendar• Rehearsal schedule• Contact sheet• Director’s rehearsal journal• Reviews

THE WORLD OF THE PLAYStep 3 – Conceiving the Production

This step begins after analysis of text

Imagine the play WHOLE AGAIN

• Return to a global understanding of the script as a whole

• Let the pattern of the whole play emerge

• Enter the world of the play

Imagination

• How is your reading of the play different than anyone else’s?

• What images come to mind in your reading of the play?

• What colors, textures, shapes, sounds help to define the world of the play?

Presentational or representational?

• Is the play highly theatrical? (presentational)• Is the play highly realistic? (representational)• Are some parts of the play more theatrical

than others?• What type of performance space best suits

these needs of the play?

Two views HAMLET

Presentational Representational

METAPHORA term or phrase that compares two dissimilar things.– “All the world’s a stage!”– “It is like the Three Stooges on valium.”– “It reminded me of the paintings of

Escher.”

The emotional world of the play

• What value system is exhibited by the characters? Moral? Righteous? Unjust? Fair?

• General mood or feeling. Is it a happy world? Sad? Cold? Satiric? Ordinary?

• Tempo at which action unfolds. Calm? Jerky? Fast? Slow?

• Color of this world. Is it dull? Bright? Primary? Pastel? Drab? Vibrant?

The Visual World

• Atmosphere. What are the materials of this place? Textures? Smooth? Rough? Satin?

• Abstraction. Is it a literal place? How specific are the references? How much detail is needed?

• Focus. Is it dreamlike? Hazy? Sharp? Jagged? Angular? Soft and curvy?

The aural world

• Literalness of the sounds. How real are the effects? Are they called for by the text? Are there important background sounds?

• Lyricality of the voices. Should the dialogue sound musical and resonant? Flat and harsh?

• Use of music. Is it called for? What does it sound like? Is it live? Is it underscoring? Does it interfere with dialogue?

The concept statement

A metaphor for the productionEvocative. Not a literal statementProvocative. Stir the imaginationIlluminating. Suggest how the play will lookIntegrating. How the script will be communicated.

Examples of concept statements

• As You Like It is love’s mythic fair tale of the American west.

• Streamers is a skeleton of death.• Proof is a fun-house mirror reflection of the

mind.• The Glass Menagerie is a look through the

cobwebs of time.

WHAT THE AUDIENCE HEARSStep 3 – Conceiving the Production

Theatre has also been visual AND aural

• We hear the dialogue of the play• We hear the voices of the actors• Nonvocal sounds suggest time, place, mood• Nonvocal sounds enhance or detract and can

be real or ethereal• Orchestrating the sounds of the production is

an important part of the director’s job

Characterization of sound

1 PITCH – how high or low on a musical scale.2 RATE – how slow or fast as it progresses.3 DURATION – how long or short it lasts4 VOLUME – how soft or loud it is5 TIMBRE – what the individual quality of it is,

independent of pitch and volume

VOCAL SOUNDS

• Cast members should provide some vocal variation

• Ensure that the actor’s voice matches the playwright’s character

SOUND EFFECTS

• Familiar sounds like bells, phone rings, alarm clocks, television, etc.

• Actors make some effects like the sound of walking, toasting drinks, clapping, pounding fists, sing a song, etc.

• Modulate the sounds of daily life to enhance the plays reality (the sound of rain outside, for example)

Other effects

• Environmental sounds• Music• Imaginative sounds• Silence• Volume

THE GROUNDPLANHelping the Audience See

Definition

• A birds-eye view of the setting as seen from above.

• It is the foundation of the director’s visual production as it provides for movement, the special requirements of the script and variety in acting areas.

• Drawn to scale• Provided through a collaboration between the

director and the designer

Ground plan should be arranged to help the director generate and motivate action.

Ground plan checklist

• GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES– Does the groundplan reflect the production’s

sense of time, place and social class?– Is there enough room for the action to unfold?

• BALANCE and FOCUS– Are set pieces arranged effectively?– Is it balanced? If not, why?

• ADEQUATE ACTING AREAS

Ground plan checklist, continued

• WELL-PLACED ENTRANCES AND EXITS• ACCOMMODATING THE PLAY’S CLIMACTIC

MOMENTS• FURNITURE THAT CAN FORCE SEPARATION• EMPLOYING THE FULL ACTING SPACE• USING THE STAGE FLOOR• VISIBILITY• SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

TESTING THE GROUND PLAN

• Test the blocking of the play on the ground plan itself using checkers, coins, etc.

• Test the blocking by taping out on the rehearsal hall floor, adding rehearsal furniture and exploring the blocking

Playboy of the Western World

This sketch and all of the following images are from the online portfolio of designerCharles Murdock Lucas for his production at the University of Alabama in 2008.

Groundplan

White model

Model detail

Production photo