Step Three
Conceiving the Production
THE GROUDPLAN
Stage Configurations
Proscenium
Proscenium
Stage configurations
Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Stage configuration
Thrust Stage
Thrust Stage
Thrust stage
Thrust stage
Stage configuration
Alley stage
Lone Star
ESU THEATRE – Fall 2009
Pictured: Ryan Scully, Chris Lohkamp, Bob Hart
Found Stages
Any space originally intended for
some other use reconfigured for a
play such as…
Storefronts
Warehouses
Gymnasiums
Subway platforms
Boilerhouse Theatre, London
Theatre de la Jeune Lune
Subway platform
Subway platform
Churches
Churches
Altar
Storefront
Storefront
Masonic Temple
Masonic Temple
Coffee Shop
THE PROMPT BOOK
Like a conductor’s score
for a symphony, this is the
director’s guide for a
production. Its heart is a
prepared copy of the
script complete with
notes, analysis, drawings,
schedules, etc.
What to Include
Playwright’s background
Ground plan
Notes on play’s
structure
Unit breakdowns
Character analysis
World of the play,
including concept
statement
Aural notes (sound)
Rehearsal schedule
Contact sheet
Journal
Reviews
WORLD OF THE PLAY
THIS BEGINS AFTER THE ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT
IMAGINE THE WHOLE PLAY AGAIN
 Return to a global understanding of the script as a whole
 Let the pattern of the whole play emerge
 Enter the world of the play
Imagination
 How is your reading of the play different than anyone
else’s?
 What images come to mind in your reading of the play?
 What colors, textures, shapes, sounds help to define the
world of the play?
Presentational or
representational?
 Is the play highly theatrical?
(presentational)
 Is the play highly realistic?
(representational)
 Are some parts of the play
more theatrical than others?
 What type of performance space
best suits these needs of the play?
Two views HAMLET
Presentational
Representational
METAPHOR
A term or phrase that compares two dissimilar things.
 “All the world’s a stage!”
 “It is like the Three Stooges on valium.”
 “It reminded me of the paintings of Escher.”
Emotional world of the play
 What value system is exhibited by the characters?
Moral? Righteous? Unjust? Fair?
 General mood or feeling. Is it a happy world? Sad? Cold?
Satiric? Ordinary?
 Tempo at which action unfolds.
Calm? Jerky? Fast? Slow?
 Color of this world. Is it dull?
Bright? Primary? Pastel? Drab?
Vibrant?
The Visual World
 Atmosphere. What are the materials of this place?
Textures? Smooth? Rough? Satin?
 Abstraction. Is it a literal place? How specific are the
references? How much detail is needed?
 Focus. Is it dreamlike? Hazy? Sharp? Jagged? Angular?
Soft and curvy?
The aural world
 Literalness of the sounds. How real are the effects?
Are they called for by the text? Are there important
background sounds?
 Lyricality of the voices. Should the dialogue sound
musical and resonant? Flat and harsh?
 Use of music. Is it called for? What does it sound like?
Is it live? Is it underscoring? Does it interfere with
dialogue?
The concept statement
A metaphor for the production

Evocative. Not a literal statement

Provocative. Stir the imagination

Illuminating. Suggest how the play
will look

Integrating. How the script
will be communicated.
Examples of concept
statements
 As You Like It is love’s mythic fairy tale of the American west.
 Streamers is a skeleton of death.
 Proof is a fun-house
mirror reflection of
the mind.
 The Glass Menagerie
is a look through the
cobwebs of time.
WHAT THE
AUDIENCE HEARS
Step 3 – Conceiving the Production
Theatre has also been visual
AND aural
 We hear the dialogue of the play
 We hear the voices of the actors
 Sounds suggest time, place, mood
 Sounds enhance or detract and
can be real or ethereal
 Orchestrating the sounds of the
production is an important part
of the director’s job
Characterization of sound
1
PITCH – how high or low on a musical scale.
2
RATE – how slow or fast as it progresses.
3
DURATION – how long or short
it lasts
4
VOLUME – how soft or loud it is
5
TIMBRE –the quality independent
of pitch and volume
VOCAL SOUNDS
 Cast members should provide some vocal variation
 Ensure that the actor’s voice matches the playwright’s
character
SOUND EFFECTS
 Familiar sounds like bells, phone rings, alarm clocks,
television, etc.
 Actors make some effects like the sound of walking,
toasting drinks, clapping, pounding fists, sing a song, etc.
 Modulate the sounds of daily life to enhance the plays
reality (the sound of rain outside, for example)
Other effects
 Environmental sounds
 Music
 Imaginative sounds
 Silence
 Volume
THE GROUNDPLAN
Helping the Audience See
Definition
 A birds-eye view of the setting as seen from above.
 It is the foundation of the director’s visual production as
it provides for movement, the special requirements of the
script and variety in acting areas.
 Drawn to scale
 Provided through a collaboration between the director
and the designer
Arrange the ground plan to help
generate and motivate action.
Ground plan checklist
 GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES
 Does the groundplan reflect the production’s sense of
time, place and social class?
 Is there enough room for the action to unfold?
 BALANCE and FOCUS
 Are set pieces arranged effectively?
 Is it balanced? If not, why?
 ADEQUATE ACTING AREAS
Ground plan checklist,
continued
 WELL-PLACED ENTRANCES AND EXITS
 ACCOMMODATING THE PLAY’S CLIMACTIC
MOMENTS
 FURNITURE THAT CAN FORCE SEPARATION
 EMPLOYING THE FULL ACTING SPACE
 USING THE STAGE FLOOR
 VISIBILITY
 SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
TESTING THE GROUND PLAN
Test the blocking of the play on the
ground plan itself using checkers, coins,
etc.
Test the blocking by taping out on the
rehearsal hall floor, adding rehearsal
furniture and exploring the blocking
Imagination
 How is your reading different
than anyone else’s?
 What images come
to mind?
 What colors, textures,
shapes, sounds help to
define the world of
the play?
The Acting Company
The Acting Company presented a new
production of Shakespeare’s story of love and
exile. By beginning our production in a dressing
room, showing actors preparing to perform, we
highlight the notion we are all players and that
who we are depends greatly on who you would
like us to be. Throughout the play, actors change
scenery in front of us – painted sculptures of
sheep on rollers and a giant rose as a tree in the
forest – presenting a colorful, playful world that
allows the actors to make direct emotional
connections to the audience. On one level, the
play was clearly intended as a diverting
amusement; several scenes in As You Like It are
essentially skits made up of songs and joking
banter. On a deeper level, the play is a journey of
discovery, in which the characters gain knowledge
of themselves and the world.
At its core, As You Like It presents us
with the respective worldviews of
Jacques, a chronically melancholy
pessimist pre-occupied with the
negative aspects of life and Rosalind,
the play's heroine, who recognizes life's
difficulties but holds fast to a positive
attitude that is kind, playful and, above
all, wise. There follows a series of
variations exploring the stages of life,
the natural vs. the man-made world,
generosity vs. self-interest and, most
especially, love in all its various forms –
familial, platonic and romantic. Our
enjoyment of this comedy is reinforced
and validated by a humanistic
philosophy gently woven into the text
by a benevolent Shakespeare.
RSC - 2013
A school production
On a film set
Conceptual
Focus on the forest
Brooklyn Academy of Music (Sam Mendes) 2013
Texas Shakespeare Festival - Dallas
NYC – Shakespeare in the Park
A traditional approach
Utah Shakespeare Festival – 2002
A modern approach
ESU Theatre 2015
ESU Theatre 2015
ESU Theatre 2015
Act V, Scene 2
Verdi’s OTELLO
Riders to the Sea
Michelle Bisbee, designer
White model
Erik Vose, Scene Design
Riders to the Sea
Scenic Design by Nelia Miller
ARMS AND THE MAN, Sarah Bradner, designer
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Rendering for Act One
Rendering for Act Two
Rendering for Act Three
Guthrie Theatre, Act One
Harry Feiner, Designer
ARMS AND THE MAN
Act Two
Harry Feiner, designer, Act Three
Act 3, University of Virginia
ARMS AND THE MAN – Act One – ESU Theatre (2005)
ARMS AND THE MAN – Act Two – ESU Theatre (2005)
Louka and Nicola, ESU Theatre (2005)
ARMS AND THE MAN – Act Three – ESU Theatre (2005)
Playboy of the Western
World
This sketch and all of the following images are from the online portfolio of designer
Charles Murdock Lucas for his production at the University of Alabama in 2008.
Groundplan
White model
Model detail
Production photo