Collaboration project

THEA Group 76: Andrew Cobarruvias, John Duong,

Leon Nguyen, Anh Phan

Chapterone

Set Design

Environment for the play

• Performance

• Thrust Stage

• Creates a more intimate connection with the audience

• The stage acts as a focal point so that the performance is the center of attention

• An open space for performers to act the various love-conflict scenes.

• Many of Shakespeare's work were performed on thrust theatres

Actors

• Performers

• Need to have an

adequate and

comfortable performing

atmosphere

• Skene, the backstage,

would help the

performers change

costumes while the

performance in going on

and re-gather

themselves throughout

the play

Mood and style of the

production

• Episodic Play

• Drama begins early in the play

• The action takes place in many years

• The scenes are short

• Since the scenes are short the actors will have to frequently

change clothing to adjust to the new change of the setting of

the play

• With carefully selected props, the different settings for the

scenes can be can be relevant to the play itself

Realistic or Non-realistic

theatre

• Non-Realistic Theatre

• Since the scenery changes a lot, a non realistic theatre

would be more ideal than a realistic theatre space

because it’s impractical to keep changing the physical

scene to match the setting of the play.

• A non-realistic scene can be simple including a few chairs

and table to be adequate for all the different types of

scene changes such as:

Locale and Period of the

play

• Time period: the sixteenth century

• Setting: Messina, Sicily, and Gov. Leonato’s place,

church wedding altar

Props to the play

• Since the play’s climax

revolves around the

wedding altar, wedding

rings would be appropriate

for play props

• A bed can be present to

represent the love conflict

that continues throughout

the play. Ex: The

relationship between

Claudio and Hero from

beginning to the end of the

play

• Chairs can also help

illustrate the stability

throughout the play

amongst certain characters

Chapter Two

Lights

Visibility

• Light must be used to see the

characters faces, the props,

and the set on stage

• At night time, when Don Jon

comes home to the Messina,

candles will be used to

indicate that

Shapes and Forms

• Lighting has to be seen from all sides of the object

so make them more interesting

• In this play, the lighting has to be much more

accurate from different angles during the wedding to

see the reactions of the characters when they find

out the overall joke

Focus and

Composition • This allows the audience

to focus on the main thing

that is going on in the

play

• Even though the light is lit

throughout the whole

stage, there is a brighter

light on the main scene

Mood and Style

• The mood is set by the characters and then help along by

the lighting, for example, blue is to represent sadness,

and yellow is to happiness

• In the particular picture, the scattered lights represent the

moonlight on the lake, but all the colors are shown but

red to emphasize the balloon

Time and Place

• Lighting can tell the

audience by the time of

day it is, or the time of

year it is

• This play is set in the late

1500s and during the

Autumn season, so the

colors are more warm on

stage

Rhythm of Visual

Movement

• This provides a constant change in lights for the

audience to stay interested in the play

• In this play, the scene changes from the celebration

of Don Jon coming back from war to Claudio falling

in love with Hero

Central Visual Image

• The lighting is very essential to the play, the wrong

lighting can get the audience distracted from the

main idea of the play.

• Lighting for a play, turns makes it more complex

than it should be. More is shown on the simple

stage, the props, and the other characters

Chapter Three

Costumes

Purpose of Costumes

• Costumes in theatre is used to create clothes for

characters to reflect the ideas and main goal of the

play. In other words, the costume should fit and be

as if that character would have chose that clothing

them self.

• Because audiences will make strong associations

with that characters are wearing on stage, costumes

are very important and should be carefully chosen.

Tone and Style Costumes are the most personal

aspect of the visual elements in

theatre and are a representation of

an idea of a play whether it be

theatrical or modernistic

The tone and style of this play is

comicalyet towards the climax and

end of the play, it becomes very

dark and evil.

Historical period

• Just like lighting in the play,

costumes has many ways

of conveying what time and

place the play takes place

in.

• The time period of the play

is set in the late 1500s in

England, in a little town

called Messina, Sicily.

• The characters will be

dressed in very

Shakespearean style

clothes with an influence

from the medieval times.

Nature of individual

characters

• Costumes usually give us

information on individual

characters depending on what

they could be wearing.

• What you wear says a great deal

about the type of person you are

and what your motives are in a

particular moment.

• For the female roles, costume

include shades of bright yellows

and pale oranges to resemble the

innocence of the women and the

men such as Benedick, Don

Pedro, Borachio, Leonato, and

Claudio would be clothes in

shades of grays and cream to

show the status and them coming

back from war.

Relationships of key characters

• In order to show the

relationship and association of

different characters and group

them together, characters will

be dressed similar.

• The men coming from war

would be dressed the same with

dirty yet heroic type of clothing.

• Leonato and Hero would be

dressed similar in very lavish

clothing because the story

mainly takes place in his home.

• Benedick and Beatrice would be

dressed similar to correlate with

their relationship being at odds

but in the end, fall in love.

Chapter four

Director

Chapter 4

Director

• Looks to put together a mixture of the tangible and

intangible.

• (Script, performance, costumes, scenery lighting

and POV.)

Script

• Director chooses the script to be

produced.

• Has to be attracted or feel a special

affinity.

• We as a group were attracted to this

play because we were familiar with

Shakespeare and love comical

plays.

Spine of the Play• First step a director must

do is find what “Motivates

the play”

• Usually the fundamental

action or conflict of the

play

• For “Much Ado About

Nothing” the major conflict

of the play was at the

wedding when Claudio

publically embarrasses

Hero right before they got

married.

Style

• Way a play is presented

• “Much Ado About Nothing”

has a witty and deceptive

style.

• For example Claudio and

Don Pedro talk in a very

clever language knowingly

being overheard by Benedick

to trick him into loving

Beatrice.

• These examples happen

throughout the play.

Directorial Concept

• Point of View that the director think seems fit for the

play.

• The play was told in a 3rd person Point of View

which let the audience see the characters deceiving

each other.

Cast

• Need to put people in roles

where their physical appearance

and personalities are best suited.

• For example Don John would be

a deceptive fellow who wants no

one to be happy. I would choose

a dark actor like Tom Hiddleston.

• Another Example, Leonato

would be a elderly noble guy

who is bit emotional like

Tom Hiddleston

Ian Mckellen