Collaboration Project

1. Big Love
By Charles Mee
Directed by: Mary Mazy
Set Design by: Bao Tran
Costume Design by: Muhammad
Ali
Light Design by: Devin Anderson

2. Spine of the play:
• The action of the play occurs around 50 sisters
who have fled from their arranged marriage to
their 50 cousins
• The main action centers around:
• the gender disparities between 3 of the brides,
representative of 3 facets of women characters
• VS.
• the gender disparities between 3 of the grooms,
who are also representative of 3 facets of men
characters

3. Themes:
• the complexity of what it means to be a man
or woman, and even everything in between
• There is no absolute truth and every aspect
of human nature is complex and convoluted

4. Style
Because the themes of the play are complex
in nature, it is best for the set itself to
expressionistic rather than realistic in keeping
with the script
The actions of the characters and the internal
struggles they are enduring should be the
focus of the play
A chaotic, messy, and rather unsettling feeling
should be evoked in the audience so that
themes of the play are left up to their own
interpretations

5. Style
an absurdist style of production.
The costume design in this production complements
this style of production. Outfits that one would usually
associate with chivalry and groomed behavior are
transformed and used in the complete opposite way.

6. Historical period
The historical period indicated by the costume design is
modern. My assumption was strongly influenced by the
fact that there is a helicopter. The costumes in this play
would be modern cut tuxedos and white wedding
dresses. This is not too complicated a costume design
as it is just taking formal wedding wear and designing
nice dresses and tuxedos for all the characters.

7. Cast and Costumes
Lydi
a
Played by Lizzy Caplan
Represents a middle
ground between her
hard-line feminist
sister Thyona and
her acquisitive and
submissive sister
Olympia

8. Lydia
Because Lydia is the middle ground between her two
sisters Thyona and Olympia.
The costume that would complement how she is would
be a simple dress and make up that does not really give
her a certain type of appearance.
Her dress should be
slightly distressed
and tattered

9. Thyon
a
Played by Eva Green
Hardened and man-hating
Represents the
extremes of
feminism

10. Thyona
Since Thyona is the stereotype of an angry feminist,
who hatches the plot to kill all the grooms on their
wedding night. Her persona would be that of a perfect
bride who is not what she seems to be. This would
involve a nice dress, with put together hair and make
up.
•Since Thyona represents such an extremity, he dress would be
the most distressed

11. Olympi
a
Played by Alison
Brie
•Materialistic and
somewhat self-absorbed
•A follower of her
sisters and easily
swayed
•Represents the
opposite of Thyona’s
feminism

12. Olympia
She is the opposite of Thyona. A woman who just wants
a man to love and take care of her. Olympia is the
character who does what she is told by other, stronger
characters. She would appear to be an innocent and
kind hearted bride.
Olympia’s dress will also be distressed like her sisters but slightly less so than
Lydia’s
Olympia only has one shoe and is holding the other in her hand

13. Pier
o
•Benevolent owner of the mansion
•Reluctantly and yet graciously agrees to help
the sisters
Played by Kevin
Spacey

14. Piero
The owner of the Italian manor, Piero, would be dressed
in an Italian style White suit with loafers and an over all
clean cut look. This would suit his personality, style and
character as a wealthy and groomed Italian man.

15. Bella
Played by Meryl
Streep
•Piero’s mother and
only person in the
play with an Italian
accent
•Wise and often a
voice of reason and
love

16. Bella
She seems to be a loving, old and elegant motherly
figure. She would have the look of an old fashioned
Italian woman that values things like family and her
culture.
She wears a black dress and a babushka

17. Guilian
o
Played by Ben Whishaw
•Piero’s gay nephew
•Feckless yet
sympathetic to the
plight of the sisters

18. Guiliano
This is Bella’s gay grandson. He is a cross dresser and
can be depicted as a transvestite. His costume would
comprise of women’s clothes and make up.

19. Nikos
Played by James McAvoy
•Betrothed to Lydia
•Also represents
the middle ground
between his
chauvinist brother
Constantine and
passive Oed
•Talkative,
sensitive and
reasonable

20. Nikos
Nikos longs to have an actual connection and marriage
to his fiancee, Lydia. He is an emotional man with good
intention. His persona would be that of a sophisticated
and loving man who would do anything for his love.

21. Constantin
e
Played by Tom Hardy
• Betrothed to Thyona
•Chauvinist
•Male counterpart to
Thyona in the extremism
of attitudes towards
women

22. Constantine
Thyona’s groom-to-be, Constantine is the perfect
counter part for her character wise. He is a firm
misogynist and a rough, kind of scary look would suit
his character. A stern look and a bulky tuxedo.

23. Oed
Played by Tom Hiddleson
•3rd brother
•Quiet and
passively follows
his brothers

24. Oed
Oed is Olympia’s fiancee. He is not very bright and
does not get hints or seem smart at all what so ever. His
appearance should be a good looking, well dressed
man. He has the looks, but no the brains.

25. Elean
or
Played by Elizabeth
Banks
•English guest of
Piero’s
•Serves as comic
relief
•Tells of whimsical
longings
•Assists the sisters
with the

26. Leo
Played by Sacha Baron Cohen
•Eleanor’s partner
•Italian man who also
serves as comic relief
•Delights in the
fancies along with
Eleanor

27. Stage Setting
The scene starts with a blackout.
The timeline is modern which took place in a big
mansion in Italy that uses hardflat as walls, which
Lydia and her sisters mistaken the mansion for a
hotel.
Music at full volume with wedding processional
music the triumphant music at the end of Scene
13, Act III, or Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.
There’s a long aisle, at the end of the aisle there
is a stage, on that stage there is a bathtub.
Pachelbel’s Canon in D playing in the

28. Main Focus of the
Lighting
Throughout the play the lighting should really
stress the actors/actress’s them selves, what
they are doing and what is happening in the play
rather than the set.
As the play goes on there should be a primary
lighting style, color, type and etc. but when
people are giving speeches or important events
happen throughout the play the lighting should
change color and/or type and style to help the
audience see the mood and importance of the
events.

29. The lighting should be focused on the
actors/actress’s and what they are doing rather than
the set so that the audience can see the importance
of what the actor/actress’s are doing and easily get
the feel of their mood.

30. Italy
This is Italy:
Rose and white. Outdoor, terrace or in the
garden facing the ocean. Wrought iron, white
muslin, flowers, a tree, an arbor, an outdoor
dinner table with chairs for six, a white marble
balustrade, elegant, simple, basic, eternal.

31. In the beginning of the play there should be a
spotlight (Soft-edged Spotlight) on the bathtub to
emphasize Lydia coming into this random house and
stripping off her scuffed up wedding dress and
climbing in the tub.

32. There might be music under this scene, maybe
Molloy's Love's Old Sweet Song or some champagne
music from inside the house.
Stage like room with a tub in the middle, with
paddings around the tub.
The tomatoes falling off the tables and getting
squashed represent Bella’s son that did not met her
standards.
Bella will always have a tomato when she enters as a
symbol

33. The Conversation is joined by the sound of a
helicopter overhead which grows louder and
louder, drowning out Lydia's words even as she
goes on shouting them until the helicopter is
deafening and wind is whipping everyone around
so they have to fight to stand up.
The helicopter landed out on the terrace.

34. When the grooms are landing in the helicopter the
lighting should be focused on the action its self.
There should be a floodlight to show everything but
very dim and there should be a spotlight on the
helicopter but not too stressed.

35. When Piero is speaking the lighting should have a soft blueish
tent to it because he is the voice of reason.
When Thyona and Constantine is speaking the lighting should
have a red tent to it to show a darker tone because they seem
as the antagonists and extremists.

36. The lighting should stay constant throughout the play unless
when an actor/actress’s has an important line or something big
happens the lighting should change color, style and type to
show the mood and importance of the action. For example when
Nikos is giving his speech to Lydia have the lighting more of a
happier, softer tone.

37. Music kicks in over this maybe J.S. Bach's
"Sleepers Awake!&" from Cantata No. 140. While
the girls throw themselves to the ground.
There’s a piano in the room.
Lydia and Leo dance to a long, long, slow,
intimate, heartbreaking father/daughter dance.
Room remains silent and a respectful moment.

38. When Lydia and Leo are dancing blackout the whole
set and put a spotlight on them two.

39. The heartbreaking music of the Largo from
Bach's "Air on the Gstring &” and after a
moment, Lydia and Nikos dance—a long, long,
sweet dance.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Prelude to Te Deum
at playing at full volume so that hardly any of the
following words can be heard.

40. Oed rips off his shirt and throws it to the floor,
picks up circular saw blades, one after another,
from a pile of saw blades, and hurls them across
the stage so they stick in the side of another
building that has been wheeled into place.

41. As the brides dress to kill, sweet music plays,
J.S. Bach’s Air on the G string, from Orchestral
Suite No. 3 in D.
The wedding music begins at full volume:
Wagner's "Wedding March&" from Lohengrin.
The music segues into the exuberant party music
of Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba&"
from Solomon.
As the music segues into the wild, violent,
dionysian
Widor's "Toccata&" from Organ Symphony No. 5
Candles on wedding cakes,
smashing cake in each other
faces

42. Smashed plates & cups all over the
floor.
Kitchen knives used to kill the
groom.
Blood all over the floor, furniture,
and wedding dress.
Nailing down boots with a hammer.
Brides were burning themselves
with cigarettes.

43. Throughout the play one of the only times where the
whole set is the main focus is during the wedding.
The wedding is very hectic, people are throwing and
smashing things all around so the lighting should
illuminate everything but be a dark tone.

44. Last Scene
Here comes, immediately, at full volume,
Mendelssohn's "Wedding March&" from
Midsummer Night's Dream comes on as they
finish walking down the aisle.
Cameras flashing everywhere and fireworks lit up
the sky.