Theater

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In this project, you will be taking on the following roles:

  • the director,
  • the scenic designer, and
  • the costume designer.

You are asked to:

  • come up with the director’s vision of the play,
  • design the scenery for one scene of the play, and
  • design the costuming for two of the characters found in the play.

Make sure you read the following pages very carefully so that you understand each component of this assignment.

The play you have been hired to direct is Rumpelstiltskin. As the director, you must come up with your “vision” for presenting the production.

You can approach the play any way you see fit. Your only restrictions are that you keep the idea of the story–the moral, for ease of description.

Here is an example:Two directors are asked to compete for a job directing The Three Little Pigs. For the theatre to decide which director should be hired for the job, they have asked each to write out their “vision” of the production.
Director A decides to present The Three Little Pigs in a more traditional, stick-to-the-story manner. Director A wrote his vision as follows:
I believe that the best method of production for “The Three Little Pigs” is to present it literally. I see the show featuring three actors dressed as pigs–complete with pig noses and ears and a curly tail–and an actor dressed as the Big Bad Wolf–with long snout and bushy tail. The pig “houses” should reflect those of the traditional story–wheat, sticks, and bricks. I believe presenting the play in this manner will allow the audience to rely on their own knowledge of the story.

Director B decides to present The Three Little Pigs as a contemporary, urban tale. Director B wrote his vision as follows:
“The Three Little Pigs” has appeal to children and thereby, can be used to not only entertain them but also educate. I see the production featuring four actors–3 dressed as young boys who live and go to school in the inner-city and 1 dressed as a drug dealer. The action of the play can take place outside the school’s playground. The first boy is taken in by the fast-talking drug dealer and becomes an addict. The second boy becomes an assistant to the drug dealer and does drugs as he chooses. The third boy stands up to the drug dealer and tries to keep other boys from the dealer. The familiarity of the play to the story of “The Three Little Pigs” should help the audience understand the moral and “just say ‘No’ to drugs.”

So, what you are being asked to do is create your own vision of Rumpelstiltskin. Create and write out your own vision for the production. There is no formula for doing this–just explain your idea to me. The more detailed the vision is, the better the production will work and the easier the designs will be.

Type up your vision, save it as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf, and upload it to the Director’s Vision assignment page.

Just in case you need to remind yourself of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, one version of the story is given below. (Remember, you are to create your own director’s vision of the piece.)

You will be designing one of scenes (yes, just one) for your Rumpelstiltskin play.

You must create a set rendering–go back and review what a rendering is if you need to–for this scene. 

The rendering must be done on the stage template and be done from the perspective of the audience. So, it will show the stage as the audience would see it if you were to actually do the Rumpelstiltskin play.

  • Print the stage template. (from the link above or the link on the main page of the section)
  • The black bars at the side and top are the proscenium of the stage.
  • The dotted line is where the stage floor and the back wall of the theater meet. (So everything that has feet–like chairs and tables, etc.–must “sit” on the floor and not be flat on the wall. There are examples included here of just what I mean by this.)
  • REMEMBER that your set rendering is for YOUR Rumpelstiltskin. You are not trying to copy anything you see in the examples–they are just examples so you can see and learn.

PIcture T1 Attached 

 

  • Walls, and doors, and windows can be flatter, but you may want to create dimension there as well. There is an example below.

PIcture T2 Attached 

 

  • Work in pencil when you sketch–and an eraser can be your best friend when doing this. Use a ruler too….it will make things a whole lot easier.
  • Do everything in pencil so that you figure out what gets seen and what does not–then you can erase what is covered or not seen. Think about making your rendering look like you’ve created a coloring book page–just outlines of objects and leave the details for the next step.

PIcture T3 Attached 

 

  • Once you have your set rendering all done in pencil, color it. The color palette used is an important part of the design as mentioned in the scenic design materials. (Notice in the hastily done example below that the walls are not solid color…you can add detail and perceived dimension to your set by using texture or patterns.)

PIcture T4 Attached 

 

  • The final rendering should look like a “picture” of your set for at least one scene of Rumpelstiltskin. (Some of you may decide that there is only one location for your play anyway based on your directorial vision. But even if you have multiple locations, you are only doing ONE rendering.)

When you are completely finished with your rendering, scan it or take a digital picture of your work. Then upload it to the Set Rendering assignment page.

You will be designing two costume designs for your Rumpelstiltskin play. These need to be for two different characters–so one costume design for each of the two characters you select from your production of Rumpelstiltskin.

You must create costume renderings–go back and review what a rendering is if you need to–for this scene. 

The renderings must be done on the mannequin forms provided. There is a male mannequin and a female mannequin–use the one appropriate for each character. 

  • Print the mannequin sheets. (from the links above or the link on the main page of the section)
  • You will not be drawing directly on these mannequin sheets. You will need an additional sheet of white paper for each costume rendering.
  • REMEMBER that your rendering is for YOUR Rumpelstiltskin. You are not trying to copy anything you see in the examples–they are just examples so you can see and learn.
  • Start with the mannequin appropriate for your first character and place a blank white sheet of paper on top of the mannequin page. You should be able to see the dark outline of the mannequin form through the blank sheet.

PIcture T5 Attached 

Mannequin page by self Versus Mannequin page behind a blank white sheet

  • Sketch the costume on the blank sheet. The mannequin form is there so that body proportions are correct. NOTICE that this costume does not really “show” the body of the actress, and the only parts of the body that are really seen are those parts not covered–the head and one hand.

PIcture T6 Attached 

  • Work in pencil when you sketch–and an eraser can be your best friend when doing this. 
  • Do everything in pencil so that you figure out what gets seen and what does not–then you can erase what is covered or not seen. Remember, you can think of this as a color book page.

PIcture T7 Attached 

 

  • Once you have your color rendering all done in pencil, color it. The color palette used is an important part of the design as mentioned in the costume design materials. (Notice in the hastily done example above that the fabrics are not all solid color…you can add detail patterns.)
  • The final rendering should look like a “picture” of the costume for one of your Rumpelstiltskin characters. (Remember that you are doing a costume design for TWO characters.)

When you are completely finished with your rendering, scan it or take a digital picture of your work. Then upload it to the “Upload Your Costume Rendering (#) Here” assignment pages. Make sure you upload each costume design appropriately–one in each.