Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Set Design

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   I am stage managing Bus Stop for a local community theatre.  I have never Stage Managed before but have a great mentor.  My set designer had to quit the show and now I am doing the set design as well as Stage managing.  I have be involved in tech for about 4 years and have helped build a number of shows before but never designed one.  If you have any words of wisdom for me I could use all the help I can get.  Thanks!

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Guests Guest	Topic: Set Design Posted: 10/09/02 at 12:03pm
	I am stage managing Bus Stop for a local community theatre. I have never Stage Managed before but have a great mentor. My set designer had to quit the show and now I am doing the set design as well as Stage managing. I have be involved in tech for about 4 years and have helped build a number of shows before but never designed one. If you have any words of wisdom for me I could use all the help I can get. Thanks!

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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/09/02 at 10:32pm
	Aaaah William Inge... the Master of Americana and one of my favorite playwrights. “Bus Stop” is especially close to my heart. I directed it twice and it was the very first play I directed to boot. Since there is no way to share PDF files and scanned photographs through this forum, you can contact me at FiatLux@email.com, I will be happy to share sketches, scanned photos of the set and any other info you need regarding the play. Fiat Lux! Bil K -------------------------------------------------- "Nobody is bored when he is trying to make something that is beautiful or to discover something that is true." William Inge
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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/10/02 at 5:17pm
	There are a miriad of things to consider in a good set design, but the BIGGIES, (in no particular order) are: 1. Always consider audience sight lines. Help your audience see the cast/show from all seats, incorporating multiple levels where possible, (i.e. platforms, stairs, etc.), and nothing in the set to impede their view. 2. Always consider traffic on and off the set. Make sure there's enough room backstage and in the wings for the actors to get on and off the set with relative ease. 3. Consider the needs of the director and the show itself. Does he/she want a window in a certain spot for visual impact or a door placed strategically to accommodate traffic movement in a scene? 4. Design to the capabilities of your theatre's tech staff and facility. Incorporate practicals and special effects only if your facility can handle them, and make sure someone is capable of building the set you design. 5. Always, always, always consider actor and crew SAFETY when designing and building a set. Break a leg is only a saying. Don't encourage the real thing with flimsy, unstable designs and poor construction practices. There are always other things to consider, but they vary from show to show and theatre to theatre, so let's just say if you consider the five items listed above, you should have a set design that everybody can work/play on. Good luck!
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Guests Guest	Posted: 10/12/02 at 11:07am
	I search the net for theater groups who have pictures of their productions to steal good ideas. There are many good ideas out there. First decide what you want for a set. I have done shows in front of the curtain with just a few pieces of furniture to suggest a set and I have done shows with full two story sets. It depends on the venue and the budget. I don't want to do mediocre sets. If I can't do it justice, I go for the suggested set. I DON'T follow the little picture in the back of the script. The first problem is that actors look at them too and follow the stage directions without any thought. When I did Arsenic and Old Lace, I flipped the set, right to left. One reason was that I wanted the front door on the Green Room side of the stage but more importantly, I didn't want the actors to easily follow the stage directions in the script ("sits SL chair", "crosses DR"). Make sure there are no "dead" areas on your set - places where the audience can't see the actors or can only see their back. I hate to see walls so full of doors that they look like hotel corridors. If the script calls for six doors, be creative with the location and style. Finally, make sure there is a reason for each major set feature. If you want a window, ask why and what is seen out the window? Can you make a realistic scene outside the window? You probably would not put a door in if no one ever went through it so don't put in a window or a riser or a sofa or a chair if no one ever uses it.
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