Research, Reseach, Research

I spent today in the library trying to surround myself with research. I was actually very disappointed at the selection of books the uni had on WW1 uniforms, or anything like that, and the ' World History' Section was much more helpful than the Costume/Fashion section, as one would imagine.

Luckily I found some buried treasure; disappointed at the Library's shameful lack of useful books (as shown by the online catalogue browser) I took it upon myself to peruse the shelves, where I found a beautiful old collection of books- 13 volumes in total, documenting all the different parts of the First World War. In these wonderfully old-smelling books (THE GREAT WAR by H.W. Wilson) I found so much in-depth information about the Indian Army's changing role throughout WWI and some really wonderful photos and illustrations too. Sadly they were 'reference only' books (perhaps why the faithful library catalogue browser failed to draw them to my attention) which meant spending all afternoon scanning and scanning and scanning. So now I have a nice selection of historical research to read on the train back to Brighton on Friday. 

This was one of my favourite images I found:

Has some nice local charm! Also wouldn't it be incredibly spooky if this was a production of 'Much Ado About Nothing'?!? Not a completely far-fetched idea. I would say that reading left to right that could be: Don Pedro, Beatrice, Benedick, Leonato, Hero, Friar Francis, Claduio- with The Watch in the background. You never know......      

This is the second photo I've found that has jumped-out at me for having some relation to where I live, as I also found out that the Royal Pavillion in Brighton was used as a hospital during WWI for injured Indian soldiers. Here is a photo, I will have to makesure I visit when I go back and see if anyone can tell me anything about it....

"For there was never yet philosopher, that could endure the tooth-ache patiently"

Woe betide me!

My friend sent me this link today:

http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/much-ado-about-nothing/

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?!?!
I am so upset! Out of all the Shakespeare plays... out of all the countries in which to set them... out of all the times in the world.... The Royal Shakespeare Company really had to do a production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' set in INDIA, showing just 6 weeks before mine......
Everyone will think I'm unoriginal and have just copied my ideas- but this is genuinely the first I've heard of this. Deary me- my portfolio will suffer for this I'm sure.

BUT LET'S TRY TO LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE.....

If the RSC have decided to set it in India, then it must be a good idea..... maybe.

Anyway, too late to turn-back now... but I feel ever so deflated.
Is it too late to set it in outerspace? haha

Documents

 These are some documents that I made ages ago and forgot to post (whoops).

Alas, the website that I'm hosting them on has jumbled-up my formatting a bit, so they're not particularly easy to read (so tutors please refer to my hard copies- thanks).

Click Here to see my Initial Timeplan

Click Here for explanation of my 'Nationalities Decisions'

LEARNING AGREEMENT
 

Much Aside from 'Much Ado"...

Got nothing to do with the project BUT
Look at how exciting this concept is!!!

Simply marvellous.

I can't work out if they are using a substance to 'tell' the bees where to go or whether it is a purely natural and organic occurrence of where exactly the honeycombs form.

I hope the latter is true. It makes all the forms so accidental and innocent- like the bees out of magic are adding meaning to the sculpture as a collective. Blissful.

http://www.visualnews.com/2012/03/24/collectables-remixed-with-real-honeycombs/- Anganetha Dyck

21st March- First meeting with the director.

I have been so so nervous about today, primarily because I knew how dismayed I would be if the director didn't go for my 'British India' idea. I have already put so much work and research into this concept (perhaps misguidedly) but I wouldn't have done so unless I felt it was a sound direction for the project- I have complete faith in this idea, there was just no guaranteeing that the director would feel the same way- and this was a big gamble for me.

Luckily, the meeting today couldn't have gone better. Doug Cockle, the director of the play, was so relaxed about the direction in which he wanted to take it, and seemed 100% onboard for my British Raj concept. He also got very excited when I talked to him about wanting to create an immersive piece of theatre (presenting some of the ideas from my previous post)- so I'm hoping it's all go-go-go now! Very excited now that I can start working properly. Doug also mentioned that he wanted us to be involved in the casting process- which is a very unexpected request- but I feel so privileged to potentially have a say in such matters! So far, the only thing I am a bit worried about is the budget... I have only £1000 for set and £1000 for costume, I've also been told that due to the tight time-schedule of 'Much Ado' I would have to have as few items as possible MADE, most of the costumes bought, hired, and sourced- which is a real shame, and will also potentially make it a lot more expensive. I'm just worried as the budget is a third of what it has been on some previous productions, and I really struggle to envisage how much things are likely to cost- but I'd imagine that a whole cast of hired costumes will come to way over £1000? Anyway I'll just have to wait and see, I'm sure I'll get advice and support if I need it, and I've been told I'm quite good at 'problem-solving' so maybe the budget won't be such a problem.
Below are the notes from my meeting with the director and my tutor:

NOTES TAKEN BY ZOE, MY SET ASSISTANT:

British India – End of great war; heat of the play – Indian climate.

Casting could be difficult racially, but would be best to just ignore the racial side of it and blind cast, then create the ethnic groups with costumes.

Could use Spray Tan to help cover up the pasty British complexion.

Have Dogberry as British but Verges as Indian, this will create a better juxtaposition with Don Pedro and Claudio.

Classic comedic method to have the British in charge as slightly ridiculed (Dads army style).

Look at Alistair McGowan on ‘Who do you think you are?”

Could Friar Frances be a Sikh? 

Benedick trying to mimic the British by shaving his beard.

Create an Immersive performance: Lanterns, pillars, cushions instead of seat on the seating rostra – would turn the audience into part of the set immediately giving them the feel of India. (Long cushions in Indian Fabrics) 

 Create a new front to the balcony and light from behind.

Consider where lighting, sound and DSM will work from.

Screen with See through pattern on castors so that Benedick can hide.

Can use hanging fabrics to create screens. 

NOTES TAKEN BY WILL, MY TUTOR:

 -'MUCH ADO'- Set in British India 1918-1919.

-Context: British and Indian Characters.

-Research ranks of British Army- caste system.

-Nepalese masks

-Sit in on auditions- late May.

-Set kept minimal- using balcony for Hero's disgrace.

- Immersive use of lights?

-Keystone Cop quality/ Dad's army--> the Watch.

-Watch 'Who do you think you are?- Alistair McGowan'
-Note to self- organise a team of supervisors & makers BEFORE end of this academic year.

NOTES TAKEN BY ME:

- £1000 SET + £1000 COSTUME budget.

-Use seating rostrum but remove seats- decorate like sandstone steps and have long cushions in Indian fabric for the audience to sit on.

-Benedick could be hiding behind a moving screen on wheels- comedic AND helps with the audience in the round.

-Go through door or curtain as entry to the space.

-Things hanging from the ceiling.

- Be there for the auditions.

-Think about Verges being Indian.

-There is a capacity in the theatre space to be able to lower thing in using pulleys.

-Think about adding a water feature- hot country..

-Lighting through screen- lasercut?

-Think about where the lighting and sound operators will go if we're using the balcony.

Here is the moodboard I prepared for the meeting:

Much Ado- An Immersive Production

After our lecture from Matt Fletcher today, I have been inspired to think of 'Much Ado' in terms of creating an immersive performance. This is a way of working that I am naturally drawn to anyway, and I have always thought that the theatre experience can only be enhanced by creating such an environment. In fact, for VND last year, one of my main aims of my set design was to create a completely immersive environment in which the audience are viewing the play, to add to the text's impact. Obviously this year I have a budget, so unlike in VND, I can't just build a massive house in the studio theatre and be done with it, but I have been thinking of some ways of creating that 'immersive' feel which could easily come within budget (providing the director is happy to go for my British Raj idea).

For example, I thought it might be quite a nice idea to give each member of the audience a garland and/or wedding favour as they enter the auditorium- maybe even including some fake rose petals to throw at the end. This way, they will feel part of the show and part of the world in which the piece is set. They will also be anticipating the wedding scene at the end, which may result in increased dismay when they learn of Don John's plans to scupper it.
Another idea I had was to decorate the seating blocks as if they were part of the set, shy away form the idea of having a singular staging area- make the entire room the set. It might be quite nice to hang some garlands across the struts on the ceiling, although I'd have to be careful not to make it look like party decorations- that's the last thing I want.

Maybe we could burn some incense too?

I think an important part of creating this inclusive atmosphere is to make sure the audience don't just feel like they're going to another AUCB production in the same way and the same space, there needs to be a barrier that alerts you to  the fact that you're entering another world. I felt the same about this for VND, and solved the issue by forcing each audience member to approach the front of the house, up the garden path, and have to ring the doorbell in order for the usher to let them in and seat them. For 'Much Ado' it might simply be a case of having a second set of doors not long after the entry doors, but created in a very Indian style. So as an audience member you'd have to go through the normal Studio theatre doors and are THEN greeted by the usher (dressed in Indian garments) and are shown through the second set of doors (which will be part of the set), so you can find your seat. This method also plays with the concept of audience anticipation, in that the longer you leave them without a glimpse of the set, and the more complicated a journey you take them on to get to the performance, the more likely they are to appreciate the set and the world in which it exists.
I think these are all very important ideas for 'Much Ado', sometimes when you are doing a completely new project, you are so scared of doing something wrong that you accidentally get bound by convention, and you forget the usual way you work, and you forget that this is your opportunity to do something different. I think I need to realise that there is no 'wrong' and that providing I stick within the budget, and work with the director, then I can pretty much do ANYTHING. So luckily our POP lecture today reminded me of that. The last thing I want to do is create a 'conventional' or 'unoriginal' production, because that's not who I am, and then... why have me design it?
I must keep reminding myself not to play safe.

George Orwell

I found this essay by George Orwell describing his experiences serving under the British Raj in India. It is beautifully written yet distressing to read- on many levels. Very insightful, gives you a voyeuristic glimpse into a Bygone Era....


http://www.george-orwell.org/Shooting_an_Elephant/0.html

More Raj-tastic pictures

First Meeting with the Group

Yesterday was the first time all the designers for the autumn productions met up as a team, with a tutor leading us. We had a wonderful morning doing budgeting excercises which involved estimating a budget for our rather grandiose set designs fro mthe previous project, with mine consuming an estimated budget of £4.5million!! We then had to re-imagine oneanother's set designs to fit to a £1000 budget and to be set in the Studio Theatre. This was a very interesting excerise and was useful in teaching us how to pare-down sets to the bare minimum without comprimising the design-concept.

We also played an interestign game where we learnt how the rest of the group would sumarise eachother's personae. I made some interesting discoveries-

The colour that best represents me is Red,

The city is San Francisco,

The animal is a Cat,

The film genre is Film Noir,

The  piece of furniture is a Chaise Longue,

and the character from Winnie the Pooh is Owl.

So there you go, WHO KNEW?

We then got onto the discussion of who would design what play. Our tutor seemed keen to mix-up the roles a bit, but I think we'd all got into our heads that we were either doing set OR costume, and that was that. I had already been assigned 'Much Ado' but problems lay ahead...
The Set Designers happily split the plays between them and it worked very well, leaving me Zoe to design Much Ado, which I was very pleased with as I know her and her work very well, I am very confident in her design abilities and we are both familiar with eachother's work, having worked together before. Not to mention she is an extremely calming presence and it would probably do me the world of good having her around. In saying that however, I do not know the other Set Designer very well so I could have had an equally marvelous time working with her, who knows.

The problem was with the remaining costume designers in that no-one really wanted to take-on Canterbury Tales (which, to be fair, would have been my last choice also). So in order to make the role more appealing, the tutor decided to shake things up a bit, and as a result, my role has now changed.
Apparently 'Much Ado' and 'Canterbury Tales' are the 2 shows out of the 4 that will require the most minimal sets- low budget, pared-down, mainly props etc. SO the costume and set designer for these 2 plays will be the same person!! So I am now the ONLY designer working on 'Much Ado' and I will have to consider set now aswell!!!

I am mega-chuffed! I doubt I'll get an opportunity like this ever again, or atleast not for years and years. Not only that, but it was revealed to me that my director (who I have yet to meet with, but he sounds delightful) is quite open-minded as to when and where I would like to set the play.

This was music to my ears and I am now going to work on developing a few concepts ready to present to him for next week.
I AM SO EXCITED!!!

At the moment I am thinking that I'd really like to set it in India, perhaps during the British Raj era just after the end of the first world war. I have many reasons for this, here are a couple:

1. I wanted to set it in a context that I am relatively unfamiliar with as I think this will help to inject some excitement into a text that I feel like I've done to death.

2. It HAS to be set around a war, as an important part of the atmosphere of the play is about the troops' triumphant return from battle.

3. The climate is right. Although the speech in 'Much Ado' makes it quite a quintessentially British play, the whole atmosphere is very hot- and unsuitable for the changeable English climate. All the action takes place outside, and you can hear the heat in the words of the play- everyone's a bit hot under the collar...   In fact, I think this is an essence of the play that Kenneth Branagh's film mastered very well.

The main thing I have to consider is I need to have first and foremost, a very good reason as to why I am not going to set it in it's original context, and then secondly, if I'm going to change the context, why not update it to the present. I need to have a think about it, but I'm pretty sure I can answer these questions.

Furthermore, I need to do a lot more investigation into this era. I want to know how many Brittons were actually LIVING in India at this time. What their relationship with the native Indian people was. Whether it was a comon occurance to have British troops returning from war to India alongside Indian troops. These are all considerations I have to research, and if it's not right, it's not right, and I will not hesitate to ditch it. I know the play so well that I simply have no excuse to produce a shoddy adaptation of it that fails to represent the feel of the original text.

I just think it could look so lovely- all the warm colours and the soft fabrics... all the cream and beige and muslin and ooh it could be lovely. Throw in a couple of white, rusty, wrought-iron gazebos- job's a good'un.

But like I said, research is key. I refuse to get carried away with a  concept  that ill-befits the play.  Plus I need to think of a few more to propose to the director next week, and hope that he likes one of them.

I spent today doing a highly amusing read-through with my friends and housemates- with some make-shift costumes and masks, and it has certainly reignited my love for the play. I hope to do a script breakdown tonight- spreadsheets AHOY

As a reward for reading today's rather long blog-post, I give you this beautiful picture of a British Raj polo team....

rad.

"Hang me in a bottle like a cat, and shoot at me"- Benedick

So so so excited about starting the new project- such an amazing opportunity!
Having fun reading back over A-level notes....
aww bless...

Haunted by 'Much Ado'...

SDP: Day 1

First impressions:

Today I was told which play I would be designing for. I honestly couldn’t believe it when I found out that I was doing ‘Much Ado About Nothing’. Despite being my favourite of Shakespeare’s comedies, I feel as if ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ has HAUNTED me through-out my life. I have studied it twice (once at secondary school, and once for A-level), I already have a heavily annotated copy on my bookshelf in my student house, I could spiel-off quotes until the cows come home, I could name all the characters without pausing for breath, it was even the play that I decided to design for for my AUCB interview project!! (incidentally choosing to set it in the 1970s). But this isn't boasting, this is a rueful lament.

I literally couldn’t have been given a play that I know better, and therefore I couldn’t have been given a play that conflicts more with my number 1 stipulation. 

However, despite all my aspersions, I need to think of this in a positive light, and although I am dubious as to whether my road-weary experience of the play will taint my enthusiasm and excitement to work on it, there have got to be some huge advantages to knowing the play so comprehensively. 

I am interested to see in what time period the director is thinking of setting it in, and there is still a lot of potential for researching new areas of influence. It also means that I should be able to start work fairly shortly as I already have a deep understanding of all the characters.

I am also excited about designing for the element of disguise! This is a play of mistaken identities and disguise will be an interesting design challenge to overcome. Not to mention the beauty of the masquerade ball scene. 

I think the hardest thing for me with this project will be trying to over-come all my previous preconceptions about the play, all my previous visions that have built-up in my mind from endless studying, countless read-throughs, the Kenneth Branagh film, various live theatre adaptations, etc etc. All these things could potentially cloud my design visions, or could push me to do something completely different. Either way, it’s about time I drummed-up some excitement about this piece, so there’s nothing left to do until the first meeting other than pick-up my heavily-thumbed copy of the play, and do a little read-through with my housemates.

Knowing my luck, the director will want to set it in the seventies….

S.D.P: A look ahead

SDP : A look ahead

In anticipation of receiving my play tomorrow, I have been thinking a lot about it over the past weekend. In my head I came up with three stipulations that in an ideal world the play choice would adhere to:

1.    It would not be a play that I am already familiar with:

For me, this unit is very much about the learning process, and therefore I felt I would benefit far more from designing for a play that was based around a context that I am currently completely unfamiliar with, enabling me to learn about a whole new area and play and playwright and era, completely in-depth. Furthermore, I didn’t want to come to the script with any preconceptions that might potentially influence my designs. A fresh slate is always best surely?

2.    It would not be set in the 1970s:

This point is less important than the previous, but is for similar reasons. As much as I actually love designing for the seventies as an era, my last big design project before ‘Battle For the Winds’ was Dennis Potter’s ‘Brimstone and Treacle’, and therefore having completely immersed myself in the 1970s for that play, I would again, rather have a completely new set of research to conduct.

3.    It would not be set in the middle-ages:

Having spent a lot of my time helping out on the set of In Extremis last term, I felt that the middle-ages was a marvellous era in terms of set design, but I think I would find it very difficult to design costumes for this epoch. But a challenge would be good. So this is again, the least important of the three stipulations.

Primarily I would just really like to have an interesting play that throws me into new research areas, that I have little or no preconceptions about, and that excites me.

Fingers-crossed for tomorrow’s reveal!!