Designer and Director Assignment PDF

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Designer and Director Assignment...

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Name Theatre 101 Designer and Technician/Director Assignment Section #1 – The Designer and Technician A. Scenic Design The play, “Charity” by Lisa Kron, is set in the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. It was mentioned that the Bellagio hotel has a casino inside, a “world-famous buffet” and great amenities throughout the building. Keeping these details in mind, the design should have a mid-century modern design with some gaudy décor pieces to highlight the typical, affluent Vegas hotels. The entrance into the Bellagio hotel have an open floor plan and the entire building will be made from a white quartz marble. The ceiling will be high and vaulted with a large chandelier hanging from the middle, and multiple medium chandeliers will be hanging throughout the ceiling. There will be two grand staircases on each side of the hotel, each one is painted a vibrant gold color and the railing have a subtle marble white trim. There will be a large glass table in the middle of the floor plan which will be holding a 3D model of the Bellagio logo in pure gold. The walls will consist of large glass window panes. After walking through the hotel entrance, the Odums are lead into an office space. The office will have a marble desk and plush, white office chairs. There will be a black couch in the back of the room with a coffee table in front. The coffee table will be holding a gold tray with wine glasses and a bucket (ice and a bottle of champagne in the bucket). The couch will have numerous white and gold pillows scattered on it. The corner next to the couch will have a mini refrigerator that is stocked with bottles of wine. Each ceiling corner of the office will have a small black camera installed, the cameras are small so they are undetected by the people in the office. B. Costume Design a. The main character, Merlene Odums, and her kids are scripted to enter the Bellagio hotel holding their clothes in Walmart bags. The recent hurricane has probably deprived them of their wardrobe so I would assume they wear clothes that have been donated to them. Merlene is dressed in a simple blue dress with her hair put back in a ponytail. Her face is flushed red and dark circles are transparent under her eyes. She is wearing distressed black flip flops and one small bracelet on her wrist, the only item

she was able to salvage from the natural disaster. Claude and Antoinette enter wearing old graphic tee-shirts, jean shorts and rubber flips flops. Both the kids have their hair down but its uncombed and disheveled. Clay Erickson, the hospitality specialist, is wearing a three-piece navy suit with gold cuff links and a silk tie. His hair is slicked back with gel and an expensive watch is wrapped around his wrist. C. Lighting Design a. Lighting is a medium that can be utilized to affect the mood of the audience and enhance the performance of the actors. As the Odums family enters the hotel, there will be a dim light on them and a fade in of the scenery. As they enter the hotel, the lights will continue to get brighter. The entire scene will utilize bright, white light to elucidate the pure and kind atmosphere the hotel manager is trying to convey. In the office, the white light will be dimmed and the table (where the dialogues take place) will be in the limelight, to put the focus on the characters. D. Sound Design a. As the Odums family enters the hotel, the background will have a small orchestra playing. This orchestra will highlight the extravagant nature of the hotel and display the awe that the family will be in from witnessing the Bellagio. The hotel will have people conversing and numerous footsteps in the background noise, to show the popularity and busy nature of the hotel. In the office, there will be no sound and only two dynamic microphones placed by Merlene and Clay.

Section #2 – The Director 1. The purpose of the production is to highlight the fact that “charity” has a different definition for different people. The hospitality specialist at the Bellagio views charity as the temporary act of “spoiling” the less fortunate with luxuries like gambling chips, endless buffets and lavish shows. Merlene Odums, the victim from the natural disaster, views charity as offering a stable environment of recovery to help victims get a fresh start and begin their lives again. 2. The intended audiences for the production are teenagers and adults. The production exemplifies a real situation concerning a family negatively impacted from a natural disaster. With the large number of natural disasters affecting countries and states worldwide, awareness about the families after the damage is necessary. This play helps create awareness

about the selfish motives of large businesses and this idea will resonate better with a more mature audience, such as young adults and adults. 3. The lesson to be learned from this production is to always be empathetic, regardless of your socioeconomic status or privilege, and help from the kindness of your heart. The Bellagio hotel was being charitable to make the hotel look like a benevolent social structure, not to truly help victims of a disaster. Eventually, their selfish ulterior motives came to light and their reputation was tarnished. The way the hotel hospitality specialist treated the Odums’ family also depicted the lack of respect and care he had for them. His lack of empathy touched the audience and reiterated the moral we were taught in grade school, treat other the way you want to be treated. 4. In order to best produce this play, it would be ideal to include a background scene of the Odums’ family in the natural disaster and better illustrate the plight they suffered through. The play should include scenes of the family in their original home, before the hurricane, and show them enjoying their daily activities. The father of the family should also be included in the play because there was no mention of him. Overall, a background on the family will help the audience better understand the family’s situation. 5. The area affected by the hurricane includes states in the Gulf Coast like Alabama, Florida and Louisiana. The majority of the population in these states is African American so that is how the characters playing the Odums’ family will be cast. The Bellagio hotel is a popular hotel in Las Vegas and the primary population there is Caucasian so that will reflect the casting of the hotel hospitality specialist. 6. As a director, the best outlet to convey the mood and message of the play to the audience would be through design sources. The initial scene of the play will have distressed buildings, flooded roads and floating household items to elucidate the environment of the hurricane. The lighting will be dark gray and blue to create a solemn mood. There will be background sounds of large winds and crashing waves. The actors in the scene will have torn clothing, messy hair, puffy eyes from crying and goosebumps from the cold. Each crash of the wave will be accompanied by a bright white light to depict thunder. This scene will then transition to the Bellagio hotel. The scene will be of an expensive and well decorated hotel. The weather will be sunny with light breezes and no rain. The Odums’ family will be dressed put together but will still have tired, baggy eyes. The entrance into the hotel will be accompanied

with a warm white light leading to the hotel. There will be a soft musical orchestra in the background to create a calm mood. This transition in design will help the audience experience the extreme situation the Odums’ family experienced. 7. Rehearsal Schedule Weeks 1-5 Schedule Monday

1-3 PM – Choreography Routines for Opening scenes 4-6 PM – Read through Script

Tuesday

7-8 PM – Practice Stage Movement 12-3 PM – Read through Script

Wednesday

1-3 PM – Choreography Routines for Hotel Scene

Thursday Friday

4-6 PM – Read through Script 1-6 PM – Run through problem areas in choreography and script 1-3 PM – Choreography Routines for Finale Scenes 4-6 PM – Read through Script

Saturday

7-8 PM – Practice Stage Movement Rest day Practice memorizing lines and vocal exercises

Sunday

 Rest day 

Practice memorizing lines and vocal exercises Week 6 Schedule

Monday Tuesday

1-5 PM - Dress Rehearsal Rest Day 

Practice lines and vocal exercises

Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

4-8 PM - Dress Rehearsal 4-8 PM - Dress Rehearsal 7-10 PM - Opening Night 7-10 PM - Second Night of Performance

Sunday

7-10 PM - Final Performance Night...