Theatrical Design Project Instructions
The written instructions below are meant to supplement the online instructions.
Please review the online presentation prior to completing this assignment.
Your last project in this class will give you a feel for what it might be like to take part in a
theater production as a designer. For this project you will do the preparatory work of a
costume designer for Anna in the Tropics. You will prepare to design costumes for one
male and one female character in the show. So, you will be completing designs for
two separate characters. Because of the nature of this online course, I cannot have you
perform actual costume designs. But by doing the work preparatory to an actual design
you will get a better understanding of the collaboration, the imagination, and the detailed
research that is required for effective design.
It is important to understand that a theatrical designer cannot design in isolation. After
reading the script the designer cannot begin to work on the design until she has met with
the director, who is responsible for the central vision of the production and for organizing
the various elements so that they work effectively together. Look carefully at the very
different images on pp. 443 and 444 and read the text beneath to see how the author
interprets the designs. If the costumes are to make sense with the other elements of
production, their design must take the director’s concept into consideration. For this
reason, the first part of this assignment requires you to adopt the persona of the director of
the production and to articulate a clear aesthetic for your production.
Part 1 – The Director’s Concept
Your Director’s Concept must be submitted by Friday of week 9 and is worth 50 points.
Most western productions are organized around a Director’s Concept, which is often
discussed and usually written down and circulated amongst the production staff. This
organizes the individual efforts of the designers so that they are all working in
coordination. Although your textbook doesn’t use the term Director’s Concept, it would be
useful to review pp. 148-150, where these ideas are discussed in slightly different terms.
In order for the Director’s Concept to be effective, it must provide thematic and aesthetic
information. This requires that you read the play carefully, think about it for while, and
allow yourself to have an honest reaction to it. You will naturally be drawn to some
elements of the play. Think about those elements – why are they of interest to you? Will
they be of interest to your audience? How and why? Brainstorm and try to get in touch
with your own creativity. A Director’s Concept is both an interpretive and a creative
statement.
Director’s Concept Form for Anna in the Tropics
Answer the questions below. These answers will constitute your Director’s Concept.
This form is intended as a template only, to show you what information must be included in
your Director’s Concept. The answers must be typed by you. Your name and answers
should be clearly labeled. The simplest course is to simply cut and paste this page into
another file, fill in the answers, save the file and then return it to me in the appropriate
drop box through your Angel account.
Statement of Theme (50 – 100 words; 10 points)
Why theme is important/relevant today (Purpose) (50-100 words; 10 points)
Central Image and its relationship to the Theme (100-200 words; 20 points)
(Please either include an actual image to which you can refer, or describe your image in sufficient
detail so that you can relate it to the theme.)
Brief description of other design elements (50-100 words each; 10 points) with an
explanation of how they support/convey the theme.
Scenic Design
Lighting Design
Sound Design
Part 2 – The Designs
The design itself is due at noon on the last day of classes (Friday) of Week 11 and is
worth 150 points.
Now that you have a Director’s Concept, you have a way of organizing your designs.
Remember that your designs should support the interpretation of the play outlined in your
Director’s Concept. Reread pp. 177-183 in order to prepare yourself for the actual
designing.
Costumes reflect the time, place, socio-economic status, and culture of the character, but
they should also convey something about the character’s individual personality. To make
sure that you are doing this, before you begin the design you should take some time to
understand the characters for whom you are designing. In the theater, characters are
understood through their words and their actions, so I ask you to find representative
quotes and actions that are revealing of character.
I then ask you for a series of images that will help you aesthetically understand the
possibilities and limitations of the play’s setting. This will require you to search for
appropriate images online and to cut and paste them into your document. (Please make
them no larger than ½ of a standard page.) These images should represent locations in
which the character might reasonably be found (though not necessarily locations found
in the play). This means that you are accurate to the time, place, socio-economic status, and
culture of the character in question. Find appropriate images, but remember that the
important thing is your commentary on the image – your description as to how the
image helps you in your thinking about the Director’s Concept and your own design. Of
course, there will be things you find that are historically accurate but that do not support
the Director’s Concept. I ask for examples of these as well.
Finally, I ask you to provide images of shoes for your characters. DO NOT feel that you
need to find images that are perfect. Find something akin to what you’d like to see on your
character, then simply describe how the image is different from what you have in your
head. Here again, the important thing (and the thing I will most be grading) is your
description of how the costume element reveals character and supports the Director’s
Concept.
NOTE: No images from other productions of Anna in the Tropics are
allowed. (Yes, images can be searched now, and if I am suspicious I will look into your
images.)
Design Number One
Answer the questions below, pasting in images where appropriate. This form is
intended as a template only, to show you what information must be included. The actual
information must be inserted by you. Your name and answers should be clearly labeled.
The simplest course is to cut and paste this page into another file, fill in the answers, save
the file and then return it to me in the appropriate drop box through your Angel account. If
your file is too large for the drop box, email it to me as an attachment.
Please note that there are TWO designs here – one female and one male.
Female Character Name:
Quote #1 with explanation of character trait represented (5 points each):
Quote #2 with explanation of character trait represented:
Quote #3 with explanation of character trait represented:
Action #1 with explanation of character trait represented:
Action #2 with explanation of character trait represented:
Historically accurate image #1 (10 points each)
How it comports with the Director’s Concept:
How you plan to use it as a designer:
Historically accurate image #2
How it comports with the Director’s Concept:
How you plan to use it as a designer:
Historically accurate but not useful for this production image #1
How does it differ from your Director’s Concept:
How might it be useful in a different production?
Historically accurate not useful for this production image #2
How does it differ from your Director’s Concept:
How might it be useful in a different production?
Shoe image (10 points)
Detailed description (material, color, texture, pattern, line, cleanliness, rigidity, etc.)
Explanation of how the shoe reveals character:
Explanation of how the shoe supports the director’s concept:
Design Number Two
Male Character Name:
Quote #1 with explanation of character trait represented (5 points each):
Quote #2 with explanation of character trait represented:
Quote #3 with explanation of character trait represented:
Action #1 with explanation of character trait represented:
Action #2 with explanation of character trait represented:
Historically accurate image #1 (10 points each)
How it comports with the Director’s Concept:
How you plan to use it as a designer:
Historically accurate image #2
How it comports with the Director’s Concept:
How you plan to use it as a designer:
Historically accurate but not useful for this production image #1
How does it differ from your Director’s Concept:
How might it be useful in a different production?
Historically accurate not useful for this production image #2
How does it differ from your Director’s Concept:
How might it be useful in a different production?
Shoe image (10 points)
Detailed description (material, color, texture, pattern, line, cleanliness, rigidity, etc.)
Explanation of how the shoe reveals character:
Explanation of how the shoe supports the director’s concept: