Stuart R
Member
Hello tech theatre hive mind –
I’m about to be in a position to design (and build) a unit set for a school production of “And Then There Were None,” the Agatha Christie mystery that gathers ten strangers together in a house on an island, strands them in a storm, and then kills them off one by one. [I'll also be the stage director. I'm hoping we get along.]
I’ve designed quite a few sets before, but this one feels like a particular challenge because we don’t really have the space, personnel, or budget to build a large, realistic box set, which seems to be what’s called for. According to the script, the story is set in a large gathering or living room in a mansion built on a cliff overlooking the ocean, with extensive windows on the upstage side that feature a set of French doors leading out onto a balcony, beyond which is a view of the sea. The plot requires that the room have three additional interior doors (dining room, study, and hallway to the rest of the house). There is a fireplace on one wall, whose mantel is decorated with a set of figurines that are important to the plot. The story takes place in the late 1930’s, and reference is made to rich owners having built the house just a few years earlier at great expense, so I’m picturing Art Deco as opposed to mahogany-paneled manor house.
Though our playing space is not large*, a realistic set would still require perhaps 50-60 l.f. of walls, with wall treatments and sconces and baseboards and crown moldings, three fancy interior doors with trim, and a large wall of “glass” (with French doors in the middle) looking out to the “sea.” In other words, huge, difficult, expensive.
That’s if I go realistic with it. Part of me is wondering if I can instead go representational, symbolic, or “theatrical” (for lack of a better term) and cut out what is not actually needed, and this is where I need your help (ideas).
I’ve looked online at other peoples’ designs, of course, and the vast majority of them are realistic, so I haven’t found that much inspiration. I guess the question is, can you do a box set play without a box set, or at least without a fully realized box set? [Choose another play, you say? Yes, well, the entire 9th grade reads “And Then There Were None” in English class, so there is great excitement about our doing it on stage.]
We don’t have real fly space, and most of the set will need to be downstage of the proscenium anyway, so I can’t (for example) simply hang windows and doors in space with no walls in between. More ideas:, paint the walls black and just have the doors/frames and rear window/sky and some Art Deco artwork on the walls in color? Or maybe those elements are all sort of floating in a neutral environment of black or red curtains (pipe and drape). I could also conceivably paint the deck something pretty vivid – faux marble or terrazzo or a big checkerboard of stone tile – to make it feel like it’s taking place on a giant playing board.
That's what I've thought up so far, and it's not exactly lighting my fire, so I’d love some more ideas to play with. PI do want to be clear that I am not looking for others to design my set for me. I’d just love some help in thinking outside "the box." I keep feeling like the flash of inspiration I need is out there somewhere – the kind that results in an exclamation of “Yes! That would be SO COOL!” I can take it from there.
Thanks in advance.
- Stuart Rosenthal
* Picture a cafeteria with a stage at one end. There is a proscenium opening (24’ w x 10’ h) with a 38” tall thrust stage platform (24’ w x 16’ d) parked in front of it. The stage house upstage of the plaster line is 32’ wide (i.e. 4’ “wings”) and 16’ deep, but anything staged beyond the proscenium tends to get lost so we tend to keep the actors on the thrust. Also, I can extend the thrust platform 4’ in any direction if needed.
I’m about to be in a position to design (and build) a unit set for a school production of “And Then There Were None,” the Agatha Christie mystery that gathers ten strangers together in a house on an island, strands them in a storm, and then kills them off one by one. [I'll also be the stage director. I'm hoping we get along.]
I’ve designed quite a few sets before, but this one feels like a particular challenge because we don’t really have the space, personnel, or budget to build a large, realistic box set, which seems to be what’s called for. According to the script, the story is set in a large gathering or living room in a mansion built on a cliff overlooking the ocean, with extensive windows on the upstage side that feature a set of French doors leading out onto a balcony, beyond which is a view of the sea. The plot requires that the room have three additional interior doors (dining room, study, and hallway to the rest of the house). There is a fireplace on one wall, whose mantel is decorated with a set of figurines that are important to the plot. The story takes place in the late 1930’s, and reference is made to rich owners having built the house just a few years earlier at great expense, so I’m picturing Art Deco as opposed to mahogany-paneled manor house.
Though our playing space is not large*, a realistic set would still require perhaps 50-60 l.f. of walls, with wall treatments and sconces and baseboards and crown moldings, three fancy interior doors with trim, and a large wall of “glass” (with French doors in the middle) looking out to the “sea.” In other words, huge, difficult, expensive.
That’s if I go realistic with it. Part of me is wondering if I can instead go representational, symbolic, or “theatrical” (for lack of a better term) and cut out what is not actually needed, and this is where I need your help (ideas).
I’ve looked online at other peoples’ designs, of course, and the vast majority of them are realistic, so I haven’t found that much inspiration. I guess the question is, can you do a box set play without a box set, or at least without a fully realized box set? [Choose another play, you say? Yes, well, the entire 9th grade reads “And Then There Were None” in English class, so there is great excitement about our doing it on stage.]
We don’t have real fly space, and most of the set will need to be downstage of the proscenium anyway, so I can’t (for example) simply hang windows and doors in space with no walls in between. More ideas:, paint the walls black and just have the doors/frames and rear window/sky and some Art Deco artwork on the walls in color? Or maybe those elements are all sort of floating in a neutral environment of black or red curtains (pipe and drape). I could also conceivably paint the deck something pretty vivid – faux marble or terrazzo or a big checkerboard of stone tile – to make it feel like it’s taking place on a giant playing board.
That's what I've thought up so far, and it's not exactly lighting my fire, so I’d love some more ideas to play with. PI do want to be clear that I am not looking for others to design my set for me. I’d just love some help in thinking outside "the box." I keep feeling like the flash of inspiration I need is out there somewhere – the kind that results in an exclamation of “Yes! That would be SO COOL!” I can take it from there.
Thanks in advance.
- Stuart Rosenthal
* Picture a cafeteria with a stage at one end. There is a proscenium opening (24’ w x 10’ h) with a 38” tall thrust stage platform (24’ w x 16’ d) parked in front of it. The stage house upstage of the plaster line is 32’ wide (i.e. 4’ “wings”) and 16’ deep, but anything staged beyond the proscenium tends to get lost so we tend to keep the actors on the thrust. Also, I can extend the thrust platform 4’ in any direction if needed.