Perhaps put it on a turn table?
In the end however, those bunch of things you need to do and want to do, is as a designer design and flow choices you make as part of your art. Seeing how someone else solved the problem is still cheating.
Perhaps you should talk with the director more if not even get out a floor plan and say a few small army men or models than also a pencil to
lay out on the
plot some scene to scene flow and
blocking thus also good locations for doors and stairs. This for where in general the director would like stuff or the two of you work out where stuff needs to be or where the conflicts are.
Really are a billion ways to solve problems such as you are looking for help on, it's also part of your job to figure out those solutions on your own for your space.
These are just my thoughts however on design.
Perhaps even if 2002, more study is still necessary. Let's say it's an apartment. Never read the
play but let's say it's an apartment. Is it an upscale apartment and where is it? Put yourself into the research mode of where the characters would live. What is the style of apartment they would have or be most likely to choose. What floor is it on, what's the view? Next how's it decorated?
Otherwise if less realistic, You start with some
base requirement and
throw in the Psyche of the characters in the
play in helping them along. In say something like form a Shephard
play, things don't have to make architectural sense persay.
In other conditions, perhaps a doorway that's parallel with the
Center Line of the
stage, from one direction with lighting goes to a washroom but from another direction goes to a bedroom. It will become confusing, but can be made to work. One door can even lead to many places.
Once saw a full
play that used two black 18"x48"x24" boxes and that was about it for set and
props.
Play and talent was good enough, the designer did not need anything else besides fresh black
drapes and fresh black paint on the boxes and
stage.
Lots of ways of solving problems and ways of design. This challenge you have is part of your
role as a designer. Sit down with the design team or at least the director sketch,
plot walk about the
stage etc. Study the times and means and culture the cast would live in. Is their above apartment something straight out of architectural digest, without a thing out of place, a Victorian study, or something similar to a college dorm room at the end of the year?