Janine Olis, 13RB
Writing about Going to the Theatre
Once you have completed your section, return it to the teacher so copies
can be made to share with the class.
Title:
Ophelia Thinks Harder
Author:
Jean Betts and William Shakespeare
Director:
Robyn Donnelly
4. Set Design
Choose either the main set or one that you found particularly interesting
to sketch in detail on the following page:
a) Try to make things in proportion to the size of the stage as much
as possible.
b) Label the props/furniture/backdrops.
c) Label the various textures (wood/wool/silk, etc) and colours used.
d) Choose one specific scene and label on you sketch where the actors
were positioned at the start of the scene.
By labelling the sketch in such a way you are doing something called
annotating. This is a valuable skill to use when explaining sets and scripts.
Outline one SPECIFIC way in which the set contributed to the effect of
the performance. HINT: think about how it was used in one particular
scene; did it give the actors a chance to move about in interesting
ways/levels or interact with each other in interesting ways? Or what
about the use of colour?
Moveable partition that had three different walls: one for Ophelia’s room (pink walls),
the church walls, and the Queen’s bedroom wall. This contributed to the performance
as the walls were easy to move around and reduce the time to change the set. This
also made the audiences remember that they were still watching a theatre
performance as the change of set was done with the audiences seeing the process.
For example from Ophelia’s room the set changed to the Queen’s bedroom with the
setting of the bed in a short amount of time and minimum crew. There was distinct
changes in Ophelia’s character whens she enters the Queen’s bedroom; she
becomes more childish as the set becomes mature and Ophelia enters in her
undergarments and acts immature towards the Queen.
The bed had a contrasting colour between the Queen’s bed and Ophelia’s bed as
well as the colours of the walls. The bed is also easy to move around as it is split in
half on the duvet for Ophelia and the Queen; also reducing time to change the set on
stage.
Janine Olis, 13RB
Name of set (ie. Juliet’s bedroom): _________________________________________
Scene in which it was used:
_________________________________________
Note: you can draft your sketch in pencil, but make sure to go over it in blue/black pen so that it is clear and will
photocopy clearly