Broadway is back, and local and amateur theater is following suit. But a year away from the stage can make us a little rusty as far as our theatrical skills go. That includes designing gorgeous set pieces. Whether you’re creating a weathered old farmhouse for Wizard of Oz or Hamlet’s castle Elsinore, our tips for designing theatrical sets can help.
Start With the Script
Every member of a show’s production team reads the script with different questions in mind. Actors ask themselves about their character’s motivation and mood. Costume designers ask themselves about the character’s personality and movement needs.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when reading the script as a set designer:
- How many different locations do the characters visit?
- How quickly do characters travel from one location to another?
- What items do characters have to interact with in the setting?
- How much movement happens in every scene?
- What are symbols or images that are important to the story and characters?
These questions will help you identify the practical needs of your set, such as how big the pieces are or how much floor space you need. They’ll also help you begin exploring the artistic elements of the set.
Look for Ways To Capture Mood
The setting is more than a place where the characters live. They typically play into the character’s emotional journey, like the woods in Into the Woods or the house in Death of a Salesman. So look for ways the set can capture the emotion at different stages in the play.
There are dozens of ways to capture the mood in a scene. Color naturally impacts our minds and emotions,and you can easily use it to cast a scene as more somber or hopeful. The size of set pieces can also make the characters seem larger than life or small and trapped.
Consider Set Movability
Many of us have grandiose ideas of large, elaborate set pieces, which is fine if your production focuses on one setting or you have a large team of tech volunteers to move the set between scenes. But if you need to switch from scene to scene with only a few people, you need sets that can move.
There are a few ways to design a theatre setthat is movable. Focus on using light materials with hidden handles for quick and easy handling. Wheels are another possibility if there is a way to lock them in place to avoid a roving bush or tree. Turntable sets also allow you to swap between various scenes.
View the Stage From All Angles
Remember that your setting should showcase the actors. So don’t cover the actors in the process. Mentally walk through your auditorium as you look at your set design. Are there places where the audience wouldn’t see the actors? If so, you may want to adjust something.