The Merchant of Venice

TMA Best Set Design 09 image

 

Propeller Theatre

The design concept for the production was a male penitentiary that provided a fertile context for the violence and religious bigotry and other struggles that the play explores. The director, performers and I referenced filmed prison dramas such as ‘Oz’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ in terms of pace, physical action and the objects that might be used in a contemporary prison.

I created a scenic world that presented what appeared to the audience as a fixed internal prison courtyard with three storeys of cells beyond. The architecture was designed to then break up into a progressively de-stabilised environment that shifted the production’s location, narrative and feel. I used materials that behaved in a robust and realistic manner and that would support the Propeller’s signature energy and physicality. The set’s metal structure created a framework that actors could vertically scale and also give them aural, percussive possibilities that punctuated the dialogue with rhythmic hammering and door slamming. Steel-on-steel clatter and scraping, using the furniture and props, was integral to the performance’s soundscape. Designing for Propeller involves empowering actors with control of their performance environment, so the set was ergonomically engineered to be manipulated by bodies rather than relying on automated technologies.

The costumes, essentially ubiquitous prison uniforms, were a canvas upon which to overlay outward signs of identity such as status, sexual orientation and creed. The methodology for developing the character’s costumes involved pooling the collective input from the Propeller ensemble, thereby aiding their ownership of clothing in performance. Each performer negotiated, with me, a customisation of their uniform concentrating on signs and symbols that hinted groupings, gangs or urban tribes (including tattoos),

The design addressed the demands of being changed over in a double bill and be entirely duplicated, transported and installed worldwide in a variety of venues.

The design concept for the production was a male penitentiary that provided a fertile context for the violence and religious bigotry and other struggles that the play explores. The director, performers and I referenced filmed prison dramas such as ‘Oz’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ in terms of pace, physical action and the objects that might be used in a contemporary prison.

I created a scenic world that presented what appeared to the audience as a fixed internal prison courtyard with three storeys of cells beyond. The architecture was designed to then break up into a progressively de-stabilised environment that shifted the production’s location, narrative and feel. I used materials that behaved in a robust and realistic manner and that would support the Propeller’s signature energy and physicality. The set’s metal structure created a framework that actors could vertically scale and also give them aural, percussive possibilities that punctuated the dialogue with rhythmic hammering and door slamming. Steel-on-steel clatter and scraping, using the furniture and props, was integral to the performance’s soundscape. Designing for Propeller involves empowering actors with control of their performance environment, so the set was ergonomically engineered to be manipulated by bodies rather than relying on automated technologies.

The costumes, essentially ubiquitous prison uniforms, were a canvas upon which to overlay outward signs of identity such as status, sexual orientation and creed. The methodology for developing the character’s costumes involved pooling the collective input from the Propeller ensemble, thereby aiding their ownership of clothing in performance. Each performer negotiated, with me, a customisation of their uniform concentrating on signs and symbols that hinted groupings, gangs or urban tribes (including tattoos),

The design addressed the demands of being changed over in a double bill and be entirely duplicated, transported and installed worldwide in a variety of venues.

In summer 2013, the production was developed into a truncated one-hour version specifically for younger audiences called the ‘Pocket Merchant’. The play text and supporting material is be published under the ‘Pocket Propeller’ brand, including my design section.

 

Education Pack

Award: TMA Best Design 2009

 

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