Directing the design Creating the visual world of the play The 2006 Human Race Theatre Company production of Big River, directed by Joe Deer and designed by Dunsi Dai. 4 TEACHING THEATRE BY JOE DEER S C O SCENERY CAN TELL the audience a great standing of her obligations for each TT J. KIMMIN deal about the world they’re entering, stage of the process, and a volunteer or and support the director’s ideas about student designer in training probably S mood, conflict, and themes. It offers won’t—when it’s time for the designer visual interest and variety and provides to build a model or draw a detailed a physical space that lends itself to a ground plan, you’ll have to ask for it.) range of staging opportunities. A good Thus the process outlined in this set does all these things. article can and should be modified to If you’re a lucky director, you have fit your circumstance. In fact, in most an ally in the process: your scenic de- situations this template for collabora- signer. Her job is to imagine a visual tion will be adjusted to take advantage expression of the world of the play or of the special opportunities of your musical and to represent the set she school, the interests and talents of your sees in her head in terms that you and students, and the particular needs of the people responsible for building and the show you’re producing. But this is painting it can understand in detail. On a good model to start with. most productions the scenic designer Your first job is to line up the peo- is also responsible for the properties ple who will design (this might even (all the furniture and all the objects that be you), build and operate the scenery, actors will handle in the show) and set lights, and costumes for your produc- dressing. tion. It’s a good idea to get this roster It is the shared goal of the director of collaborators on board as soon as and designer to achieve a design that possible. Have a preliminary get- feels as though there is no other pos- together to let them know what show sible visual world that the show could you’ll all be doing, share a rough out- live in. The directorial interpretation line of the budget, and sketch the pro- and the design are one. But getting duction schedule. Be sure to include to that place takes some thoughtful, your music director and choreographer, intelligent consideration, a talent for as well as all of the designers, in the metaphor, a collaborative spirit, and a conversation. This is a purely logistical capacity on both sides for sharing and meeting to get the frame of the yet-to- receiving ideas. In this article I’ll out- be-painted picture in place. You can line the process that I have used as a outline the process we’ll discuss in this director to work with many designers article with them and even share the on scores of successful productions. article itself. Establishing a set of shared In a school theatre setting, the expectations for the design process will director’s design ally may be a talented help make things run more smoothly student or a parent who has carpentry and avoid some of the frustration that skills. The principles are the same as can accompany any passionate collabo- when you’re working with a profes- ration. Your production calendar can sional scenic designer. (With this key outline when your part of the process difference: a professional designer will is due to them, and when you’d like come to the table with a clear under- theirs, as well. Be sure to allow some TEACHING THEATRE 5 flexibility for the reality of lives that in- Take quick note of your first impres- show on first encounter. Orderliness, clude at least one full-time job besides sions. Don’t edit—just let them tumble comic chaos, pastoral romance, emo- this very demanding project. onto the page in any form they take. tional austerity, psychological intrigue, Doodles, shorthand words and phrases, etc. The qualities of the music can Record your first impressions full sentences, quotes from the text, often tell you a good deal about this As with so much in the theatre, prepa- even sketches can be potent reminders question. Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific ration is crucial. Once you’ve had a of what you feel most compelled by. Overtures will suggest a very different chance to read the script and listen to These are the seeds of your fuller inter- world than Grease. Try to articulate the music (if you’re directing a musi- pretation. your gut reactions. No one has to read cal) the first time, you’ll be ready to go What does this world look like? Do your notes, and you can refine the back and start answering some “first you imagine any specific scenic ele- wording later on. impressions” questions that will help ments? Colors, shapes, textures, lighting Who are the most important people you gather your thoughts and lead you qualities? Is this an architectural world, in the story? Is A Little Night Music to a clearer sense of what you want to a natural world, fragmented scenery, Frederick’s story? Desiree’s? A trio of do with the show. or highly realistic? Is there a configura- characters sharing focus? Why do you Some people resort to simply copy- tion of the audience in relation to the care about these people? Who attracts ing the original design and interpreta- playing space that you want to employ? you or distances you? You don’t need tion of a show because they aren’t If you know the space, are there ways to think simply in terms of heroes and used to creating a design for their own that you’d like to use it for this specific villains to identify whose story matters production. I don’t recommend that production? Adjectives that describe most to you. There’s no need to judge for two principle reasons. The first is textures, colors, and condition—like any characters. Just react. the practical consideration that it will “gritty,” “pristine,” “pastel,” “earth- What are you reminded of? Did probably not be possible to reproduce toned”—can be useful. And those de- any works of visual art, literature, TV, the design in a way that satisfies your scriptions may be different for different film, or other items of popular culture expectations. The second is the un- portions of the show. come to mind as you read and lis- settled legal question of whether the Do any strong staging images stand tened? These references can sometimes creative work of the original director out? Compositional ideas can some- provide you with an anchor for your and designer is protected by copyright. times come to you as you read and lis- production and help your designers get So for the purposes of this article, let’s ten. Note these. Phrases like “a swirling a handle on your ideas for the show. treat the design process as if you’re the mob carrying protest signs,” “the city For instance, the original production of director of the original production start- is his enemy,” “the earth opens up to Fiddler on the Roof was powerfully in- ing with a blank slate. reveal her” can be provocative as you fluenced by the director’s attraction to As you make your notes, consider move forward. These can also come the work of painter Marc Chagall. these questions as a way of gathering from the text, the stage directions, or How do the historical setting of the your thoughts: the music. story (or the writing of the show) and What strike you as the most im- What does the world of this show feel the location affect your ideas about it? portant ideas, feelings, images, and like to you? It can be useful to recog- Jason Robert Brown’s Parade is deeply moments from the first read/listen? nize the emotional experience of the rooted in Georgia in 1913. History, The drawings above show the series of steps Dunsi Dai used to create the set design for Big River. Left to right: A thumbnail sketch of the basic style and stage space; a detailed sketch that begins to suggest the relationships and functionality of the set in individual scenes; a color sketch that includes hues, texture, and patterns; and a final complete rendering of the set design. 6 TEACHING THEATRE culture, and place have a great deal to This will be a touchstone for you and discovers his own humanity in the do with that story. This may not be the everyone associated with the produc- process. It is literally a journey down case with other shows. Does historical tion as you move forward, so it’s worth the Mississippi River just before the Civil War. But more importantly, it is accuracy matter to you? the time it takes to get it right. You’ll a spiritual journey into the territory of What is the style of this piece? Style want to have all those earlier notes empathy and morality. Over the course can be identified as the rules for per- handy as you begin this process. of this journey, Huck and his traveling formance behavior that we consistently Think big! Take a stand! The con- companion, the runaway slave Jim, employ in a show. Asking if the world cept statement, to be useful, must become friends, then brothers, as they share dreams and discover their pro- of your show is like a comic strip, a reveal what it is about the show that found common bond.