CHALLENGE
Create a setting for a brand-new one-woman play about her family, childhood, and upcoming wedding.
SOLUTION
Collaborated with the director, playwrights, and other designers to come up with an elegant and simple scenic design that best allowed for the bride's story to shine.
HOW I HELPED
Held preliminary meetings with the diretor and playwright to set scope and vision, then moved on to example images and prototypes, culminating in a fully realized design package to be executed by the production department.
In this case, the "user" I'm empathizing with is primarily the audience as whole—how best to tell the story that impacts them the most. I start the process by reading the script, and making note of intial images/inspiration that would resonate to me as an audience member. I then took my notes and inspiration images and met with the director, to hear more about his approach to the play. In this meeting, I took several pages of notes (handwritten, because I'm a little old-school), and did some quick sketches to gauge the best direction to go.
Considering the play as the challenge in this exercise, I next defined some non-negotiable "problems" to solve with this design:
1). Create an equal and stimulating visual experience for the audience (user) to experience the play.
2). Must fit physical space (3/4 thrust stage that seats 110 people), budget, and capacities of production department.
3). Must support the telling the story - the play's the thing.
A few of the core ideas we came up with during the empathize stage that really excited us was the over arching theme of a person being on a journey, making the choice to get married, and having to contend with all the challenges that comes with it...family expectations, sociatal pressures, etc. We loved the idea that she was literally on a road for this journey, while still mainly taking place in the warmth and comfort of her childhood bedroom. I wondered what it would be like if the floor of the room resembled that of of a road, that drove to the bedroom door (aka, her destination).
I gathered some more reference images, as well as a quick prototype to give the director an idea of the direction we're headed (get it? Direction? Road? Jouney...?)
As the main visual metaphor for the design, I started with the floor before moving on to other elements. The director, playwrights and I went back and forth on a few versions, eventually simplifying the patterns of wood to be used.
Once we felt happy with the floor, we added small platforms to create additional places for the action to take place, as well as a triangular platform in the middle that held the door (which represented the ultimate destination for the bride).
The concept couldn't be tested until rehearsals began and we had actual people in the room, moving around, interacting with the furniture/items. Before the set is built, actors work on a taped out version on the floor, to start to get an idea of what it will feel like.
It was during this process that a few other major design decisions were made: we added a make-up desk and chair, and cut the bed/bedside table and folding card table...simplify, simplify, simplify. If we could do with less, we did.
The final product was elegant, sleek, user-friendly, and mailabile. It supported the storytelling without getting in the way of the storyteller. The show was a massive success, and will live on in other productions.
If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!
mitchell.greco@gmail.com