Costume and Props – Breaking Stories Theatre Company

15 Minute Call… It’s Show Time!

May 30, 2014June 2, 2014 Jessica McDonald

For our performance day we could spend the whole day in the LPAC. In the morning Charlie and I help the technicians set the stage up to our requirements – all seats in place, with the pit down and lower seats in place. The cyc was moved forward a bar in order to allow one of the scenes to be silhouetted. Since our tech in the auditorium we had made some slight adjustments to the lighting and sound, this resulted in Charlie and me collecting new cue numbers to add to our scripts.

Once the stage was ready and we had our new cue numbers for the lighting, we could now move on to the cue to cue. For this Charlie and I went up to the tech box, here Charlie operated the lighting while I called the actors onto the stage, asking them to speak the first and last lines of each scene – or the line that signified a change in lighting. While this we were doing this, Martin was setting up the new music, sound and presentations we had changed on QLAB. Again once this was finished I then collected the new cue numbers off him, adding them to my script ready for the dress run.

After the cue to cue, we all had a break for lunch and started to get ready for the dress run. During this time I wanted to set up back stage for the actors, for this I set up props tables on either side of the stage, each table displaying accordingly the items that would be going on and off on the side of the stage.

As well as the table being set up, I wanted to put and scene order back stage just in case nerves got the better of the actors. This would allow them to refer to these without getting themselves into a panic.

Scene Order.dotx

Now the lunch was over we could begin our first dress run in the auditorium, with sound, lighting and projection. I was a little nervous as I hadn’t called a show in some time, however, I think that a started reasonably well. We had just started scene nine and half way through the scene a piece of music started to play rather than a voiceover. I did panic as I wanted the actors to feel at ease before the show, however, Martin was on cans and I asked him to come over to the call box. While Martin was fixing this problem I asked Charlie to carry on with operating the lights while she was in the tech box. By doing this we didn’t need to stop half way through the dress run and disturb the actors while they were in character. Because that had happened I began to become very nervous for the rest of the run.

Once the dress run was finished we had note off Diane and Darren (who had been on cans for the duration). One of the notes I got off Darren was to stay calm, and to remember that the script is in front of me with all the information that I needed. He said that myself and Charlie were doing brilliantly up until the mishap with the sound, I was calling stand by on cues and then allowing them to go. He explained that it would have been the shock of a cue being in the wrong place that threw me. But a part from that we were doing well and that we seemed ready and prepared for the show tonight.

The Snob.

May 29, 2014 Alicia Visram Cipolletta

“Satire is closely linked to parody and can often discredit an individual of their public worth or value.”

Clarissa Merchant at first was not a funny character to me. Within the first few weeks of exploring her character, I viewed her as fanciful and posh. As the rehearsals progressed, I noticed an underlining sense of satire within her scene with the young woman. Even though she insults the young women, more then once, her ignorance and arrogance caused giggles within the theatre company. I therefore enhanced this element of her character and created my own interpretation of a high-pitched, snob version of Clarissa. She is ‘head of the committee’, and so I used hand gestures and my own stance, to show her character and define her place within society and therefore within the play. A thin, colourful scarf was added towards the end of the rehearsal process, to add to the image of Clarissa being stuck up and over confident. I had a lot of fun playing her, and having that scene be one of a few comic relief moments within the play, allowed a versatile side to my acting to show.

Cash, J. (2007), Satire- The Drama Teacher [online]. Available from: http://www.thedramateacher.com/satire/[Accessed 28 May 2014].

Simple is key.

May 29, 2014May 29, 2014 Alicia Visram Cipolletta

Overall, the props were kept to a minimal. We were interested in showing the difference in characters through the use of colour; the Solicitor had a red clipboard, the Doctor a blue clipboard, the Judge a black scarf etc. We did not want to break the image that it was the young woman, who was different and ‘the other’. Sourcing these props was fairly simple, yet Faye and I struggled with a few; the hospital bed, and a clear evidence bag. In the end, we went outside the naturalistic stage, and decided to simply put a white sheet on a chair to represent the young woman’s hospital bed. This also made it easier when taking it on and off stage, and made the audience use their imagination.

Projecting Mrs Pennington.

May 28, 2014May 29, 2014 Alicia Visram Cipolletta

My main character, Mrs Pennington, is the young woman’s trusted solicitor. When receiving our roles, and after a few read through of our lines, we hot-seated the characters in order to see what we could gain at such an early stage. I could immediately tell that the Solicitor was not tyrannical or harsh, but sensitive and understanding. She either is very good at being patient or has a connection to the young woman, and this is noticeable through the scene where she has lost her husband, yet puts the young women’s distress before her own. Being Mrs Pennington was a pleasure, as physically she is very powerful on stage, and her language is very professional. I was placed on downstage right and given the same spotlight throughout the performance. This showed the audience a recognisable visual element to my professional relationship to the young woman. When discussing aspects of ‘solicitor’ matters, I faced the audience, yet when I was reaching out to the young woman, I originally would turn my face to the young woman in the opposing spotlight. After gaining criticism and feedback from other students, I was advised to fully face forward, yet show the mood changes through my face and gestures. This would allow the audience to see my responses through my facial expressions, and continued with the starkness on stage that we had running throughout the performance.

Mrs Pennington progressed over the weeks, and as I became more comfortable with her persona and the words she uses, it was time to slow things down. Being such a calm and composed character, I struggled with projection, and slowing down the paragraphs that contained large, professional words such as; ‘positive identification of the political faction of the killers’. This was difficult, as I didn’t want to loose my emotion through the need to project my voice.

When we allocated the Solicitor with a red clipboard, this was her establishment of her role. The colour itself, against the grey dress, stood out and is very noticeable. I became fully committed to the character of Mrs Pennington when I was able to practise with the clipboard and felt that overall I justified her lovely and loyal character.

Costume Design: Keeping it simple

May 22, 2014June 2, 2014 Faye Louise Bunclark

Minimalism: Deliberate lack of decoration or adornment in style or design

When discussing costume and props as a company we decided we wanted to take the minimalistic approach when it came to the design. We wanted to create a piece that was anti-naturalistic and clinical therefore collectively we decided to keep the costumes and props to a minimum. Jane Collin’s suggests ‘minimalism in art implicates the viewer by turning his/her gaze back on itself, forcing a self-conscious perception in which the viewer confronts her own effort ‘to locate, to place’ the work’[1]. Collin’s states here that by creating a minimalistic design it requires the audience to actively participate in the performance as it requires them to engage their thoughts an imagine and place the piece of theatre accordingly.

Specifically in the performance there is a scene where the young woman describes her experience of suffering a miscarriage in a bucket whilst hiding from the authorities. The singular piece of set for this scene is just a steel bucket down stage left in a spot light and the young woman is situated parallel to it down stage right in a spot light. The bucket itself is enough to demonstrate to the audience the harrowing situations the woman has had to endure. It allows to audience to visualise it rather than attempting to portray this on the stage itself; keeping with the anti-naturalistic feel of the play. This demonstrates the powerful message that can be evoked through a simple spotlight and prop.

When specifically looking at the costume design we obtained small objects that would represent the character. For example to represent a character with a different ethnicity we used a tribal necklace, this signified to the audience a change in character role which did not require any change in accent or clothing. Mrs Doughty was an elderly character therefore we decided to drape a vintage scarf around her shoulders, this worked wonderfully and the audience knew this character instantly. However collectively we decided some characters did not need a specific prop, the stance and characterisation was enough for the audience to identify that the character was a guard or police official.

[1] Jane Collins. Andrew Nisbet. (2010) Theatre and Performance Design: A reader in scenography. Routledge. Page 69