Again AVKid amongst others after got the
point of seperating in design realism from the audience's association of what will have been the past.
Vacuums
etc.? Perhaps not but a good broom will sweep a rug just as well, and there was more intent to do so often. Perhaps just a few pair of clothes, but ever so much more intent to keep them fresh and looking good. Perhaps as if a magic trick, a good hat with fresh flowers will distract that the dress is a little more faded and out of
current fashion, but still intent perhaps back than was just as much as intent now I would expect.
But what in your audience in having been raised with watching I Love Lucy expect of a
play set in the 1950's as opposed to the realism that your grandmother will have lived? In conveying a
stage picture, and very much dependant upon the director's intent, one could present a museum piece realism or something that is more = words loose me, presentational/stylistic. Both have advantages, and often the middle
ground between the two under normal conditions will be useful. Just as you don't need to show everything that will have been in a room, more represent to convey an idea, the holes or dust, while not always accurate might convey to the viewers in associating with it a picture.
In one play, I used some
incandescent plano
convex lights that gave a very grainy as if photo quality amber directional and shadowy light. Can one say old west even if only 10' from an audience? Ambers and black and white is how a modern audience sees the past, ofen not vivid and
fluorescent types of vivid colors. Might have been the case back than that colors and dyes just popped, but would one expect a Isben
play to have such colors today? Back than perhaps, but today? Instead one might use the more muted drab colors to convey more of the conditions and setting as we might view them today. Here is a trapped women by the culture of the day. Even if she had fresh flowers in her hat, in not making them "pop" it still has an
effect upon the audience in that while she might be proud of her new hat, it still is less than optimum for her and in general.
This being the
backdrop both somewhat out of accuracy, and out of what helps convey the intent you are designing to help the audience see it. Yes you can do a museum piece, but would the audience recognize the intent of doing this? Much less would it detract perhaps from both the intent than and the intent of today?