____ Completed worksheet, including
____ Sections I, II—written on worksheet
____ photocopy of scene with blocking notes
____ set design—attached
OR
____ costume design—attached
Director’s Interpretation:
____ Objective paragraph
____ Blocking paragraph
____ Set design paragraph OR Costume design paragraph
Believe it or not, the director of a play does much more than shout, “once more—with feeling!” while sipping espresso. A director must think carefully about an interpretation of the play and approach the production with clear ideas on how best to communicate that interpretation. A director might see A Raisin in the Sun as a story of triumph or as one of misguided idealism—but the foundation of any interpretation of the play is built of small, concrete questions about every detail of the production.
Next week, you will create a director’s notebook for one short scene from either Death of a SalesmanorA Raisin in the Sun. The director’s notebook will be, in essence, a plan for the staging of one short (1-2 page) scene from the play. The assignment consists of several different sections, some in which you map out your plan for production of this scene, and some in which you write about how your planning decisions reflect the primary concerns of the scene. In this assignment you will address the following aspects of production:
This section of the assignment is designed as a worksheet to be filled out. Please refer to the following deadlines as you complete this worksheet:
Sections I and II à complete in class on Wednesday, April 30
Section III à practice scenes with blocking in class on Thursday, May 1 **note: you need to photocopy your scene before class.
Section IV / V à prepare to hand in @ class on Monday, May 5
Interpretation paragraphs (4) à Complete for submission on Monday, May 12
NOTE: during the week of May 5, you will also be beginning your book clubs, and you will have reading homework to complete.
I. SCENE SELECTION (complete Wednesday 4/30)
Scene (page numbers): __________________
Characters involved: _____________________________________________________
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II. DRIVING FORCES / DEFINING WORDS (complete Wednesday 4/30)
In director Ed Lange’s design plan (articulated in letters to the costume, set and lighting designers) for a production of The Crucible, he identifies “some words, the spirit of which [he needs] . . . to consider and probably convey visually: Entrapment, confinement, repression, restriction, narrow-mindedness, fear”(Lange 12). The designers then take these words into account in proposing potential designs.
What are three words that identify the most important ideas or emotions in this scene (i.e. which words do you need to “convey visually” in this scene)?
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Before class, make a photocopy of your pages from Raisin or Salesman. In class, you will work with classmates to experiment with blocking the scene. Where are the characters on the stage? How do they move in relation to each other? Work with your partners to find the most effective blocking. Make notes (in pencil!) on your photocopied pages; when you have made your final blocking decisions, mark them on your pages. You will hand these pages in with the final assignment.
Keeping in mind the three words that define this scene, develop a visual representation of a set that reflects those words in some way. You may draw, paint, make a three-dimensional structure, etc.
Keeping in mind the three words that define this scene, develop a visual representation of the costume that your chosen character would wear in this scene. The costume should reflect these central words in some way. As with the set design, you may draw, paint, or cut out pictures from magazines, etc. You should make note of the color scheme you would use for the scene and the specific fabrics and colors you would use for this costume. Feel free to include fabric swatches or squares of color.
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DIRECTOR’S INTERPRETATION (due Monday, 5/12)
For this section of the assignment, you will write one concise, beautifully organized paragraph (typed, double-spaced) in response to each of the following questions (four paragraphs total):
Some more interesting examples from Lange’s preliminary correspondence with set and costume designers…
On set design:
“. . . we have developed the idea of over-hanging wooden structures as symbolic of man’s, as opposed to God’s, creations. Starting with Parris’s house, we see overhanging rafters. Simple and in human scale, true, but menacing and oppressive if lit to accentuate that aspect. Later in the court, we have that same symbol but now grown to over-whelming proportions.
. . . The jail has a similar construction, this time out of rough “iron” shards to form prison bars. Only Proctor’s home is free from these overhanging spectres. His environment is free, open space, backed by the vertical posts which suggest trees” (Hariton/Baral 16).
On costume design:
“I try to show the ‘confinement’ and ‘restriction’ of John Proctor by decisions I made concerning his costume. His doublet and breeches are leather, allowing less movement. . . . It’s a very confining costume, as seen in Act I, scene 2. But as the play progresses, and he becomes a free man mentally, his costume loosens. . . .
Sometimes I have selected particular fabrics, not colors or styles, to help define the character. . . .
Color is important too, and the different groups will have separate colors. The people of the court . . . will generally be in costumes of black and burgundy, as a main color palette. The people who are being victimized by the court will be in costumes colored in rusts and brown. . . . Abigail, with her teal blue, stands aside from both groups” ( Griffin 21-24).
Works Cited
Griffin, Brent. “Notes on the Costumes.” The Crucible Resource Workbook. Compiled by the Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts. Albany: Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts, 1983.
Hariton/Baral Design. Letter to Ed. Lange. 22 May 1983. The Crucible Resource Workbook. Compiled by the Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts. Albany: Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts, 1983.
Lange, Ed. Letter to Hariton/Baral Design. 17 March 1983. The Crucible Resource Workbook. Compiled by the Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts. Albany: Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts, 1983.