The document discusses the scenic design for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It will have a forest setting portrayed through a thrust stage with props and foliage. The indoor scenes will feature luxurious, old-fashioned furniture to set the Shakespearean era. Lighting will use various colors and intensities to set the mood in the woods versus Athens. Costuming will distinguish the social classes through fabrics and elaborateness of outfits.

2. Costuming
 We are portraying a traditional style and production
for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With costuming
this means that the characters will be dressed in
English Renaissance and Athenian traditional Greek
clothing. I also want to be very minimalist with the
characters so accessories will be limited, with the
poorer characters not wearing shoes.
Puck costume design. Very
simplistic with leaf coving
for the body and jazz shoes
that are flesh colored.

3.  Our production of Midsummer Night’s Dream will take place in
the late 1500’s. It is an old English play so the local will be
similar in style to that of old English castles, but the majority of
the play takes place in the forest which entails a set with
foliage and more straightforward simplistic set design.
 For costuming the historical period will be impactful on
Hippolyta and Theseus’ costuming because they are the most
wealthy and high standing of the plays characters.
Theseus’ costume will
be very regal and given
an essence of authority
and power. To
accomplish that I am
leaning towards a more
military style almost
Greek costuming.
Hippolyta style dress with heavier more elaborate fabric and design.

4.  Midsummer divides characters very easily by station
within the play. There are the mechanicals that are
poor peasant types, the lovers who are middle-upper
class and the fairies which are outside of
money but are easily defined by their connections to
the Earth.
Mechanicals will be in almost
rags, simple fabrics that are
coarse and light in weight.
Titania will
be made to
look as
Earth-like
as possible
with wild
colors and
red or
green hair
to make
her appear
flower and
grass-like.

5.  To show the relationships between the lovers I want
to color code them so that the audience knows how
they are supposed to go together and the mix up
done by the fairies is more obvious and easy to
follow.
Lysander and Hermia
for instance could be
designed in pink
while Demetrius and
Helena given similar
but blue outfits.
Their costumes will
be again, traditional
renaissance England,
but for added
mobility for the
characters given
tights for pants
rather than more
traditional pants.

6.  The primary theme of the play is the relationship between
what is real and what is not. Characters must decide
between what is a fantasy and what is reality. The use of
magic lends itself to this by creating unlikely
circumstances and dreamlike sequences. I can portray
this through the costuming of Oberon, who is the driving
force behind the confusion and chaos found within the
play.
Oberon’s significance is
noted by his crown, not
only making him king of
the fairies but also
master of his domain.
He is similarly dressed
to Titania as Earthy as
possible to connect
them as both being
fairies.

7.  Bottoms costuming has to be specifically designed
because he must make the transition from man to
donkey. I want this to be as obvious and easy as possible
by simply making his head a prop that can be slid on over
his existing costume. It should be light enough to not
interfere with his movements but heavy enough to stay
planted on his shoulders and not slip around which would
be distracting and spoil the illusion.

8.  It is essential that all of the costuming remain
consistent and fluid between all the characters and
archetypes because the resolution of the play brings
all of the characters together for Hippolyta and
Theseus’ wedding.
The mechanicals will
need alternative
costumes for their
characters characters.
These must also be
more ragged and light
to be consistent with
their normal attire.

9.  Overall the costuming for A Midsummer Night’s
Dream should be a mixture of more elaborate,
colorful and expensive costuming for the richer and
elite characters such as Oberon, Hippolyta, and the
lovers while the mechanicals will be more basically
dressed in light fabrics similar to burlap.
Fairies and Lovers Fabric
Mechanicals Fabrics

10. Lighting

11. There would be a combination of lights which
would include spotlights, floodlights, or even
moving lightings. For the darker scenes ( the
woods) there would be more dim lights to give
the characters a little evil look. Mostly dark
purple or blue lights shining. For those in
Athens it would be more spotlights especially
for the play scene and sometimes for the
palace one.

12. The visibility for the wood/ Athens would have to both
show the mood as well as the performers. The woods
we be a little bit darker while Athens would be lighter
colors. For the woods, it’s a darker place with less
light.
In order to make the mood a
little more distant for the
audience, I’d use lights like the
one on the right for the woods.
On the other hand, for palace it
would be more comfy colors.

13. I would use spotlights like
this on each corner of the
stage to focus on the
action taking place
In order to make the fairies and other people in the
woods more mysterious, there would be plenty of
fog around them. But I would use spot lights to
emphasize their facial features so that each
character is recognizable to the audience.

14. Since the play does take place in Shakespeare times,
there would be a lot of “natural” light on stage during
the Athens scenes. Mostly ones to symbolize sunlight
and bring out the natural beauty of the human
characters and their lifestyle. There would be an even
distribution of the light over the course of these
scenes as well.

15. For the part in which it takes place in Quince’s
house there would be a lot of candle light which
would be very dim. Since they are laborers and
can not afford major light sources, it would be a
little darker but nonetheless comforting in
these scenes. I would focus light on them as the
rehearsed the play, but not too bright. It would
probably be one light on to complement the
candle/lantern lights.

16. As in the Athens scenes I would want to create a
more natural flow as well. When people think of
woods, they thing spooky as if anything can be
lurking. For this I would like to have small lights in the
background to possibly resemble eyes. They would
flicker every couple of seconds to give off the affect
of blinking. I would use smaller white, red and green
lights to make the “animals” a little more mysterious.

17. For the palace there would be plenty of
chandeliers that actually give off light
to give a more royal ambiance. I would
like to include windows where I would
have white light coming through if
daytime, and darker light coming if it
nighttime.

18. In addition to the flickering lights in
the background and the other mood
lights these would be in the
background. I don’t want them
hanging, but wrapped around some of
the props that are onstage. Some may
hang, but in order to make sure the
audience is not distracted they would
be in certain areas of the stage.

19. SCENERY

20. The
Environment
• Thrust stage
• Forest setting
• Props and tables to
create an indoor
environment
• Shakespearean
time period
• Affluent characters

21. The Mood and style
 Shakespearean
Comedy
 Light, humorous
tone
 Use of puns and
witty wordplay

22. Realistic or Non-realistic?
 Fantasy setting
 Special effects
 Fairies
 Bright colors in
background
 Magical Potion
 Man transforms to
a donkey
The fact that the play involves a magical love potion and the transformation
of a man’s head to that of a donkey’s calls for more of a fantasy type of
play. It gives the play a much more authentic vibe than if it were to be
realistic.

23. Locale and Period
 Forest setting
 Old-fashioned, luxurious
furniture for indoor scenes
 Characters riding horses
 Dialogue from
Shakespearean era
The location and time period would be of the Shakespearean era and in the
forest. The horses (whether actual horses or props) would signify the time
period since that was all they had for transportation at that time. The
luxurious furniture would symbolize those characters of status and wealth.
Also the characters dialogue would be a clear give away of the time period
they were representing.

24. Design Concept
 Mainly would be a forest setting
 A blue or green tone in the background
 Majestic/ Fantasy type of environment
 Keep tone light and fun
 Simple design to create emphasis on the play
itself

25. Visual Metaphor
 The magical potion is a
metaphor for how
difficult love can be.
 Potion causes
characters to be
irrational and make
absurd decisions
 Fairy queen falls in love
with a Donkey
 "the course of true love
never did run smooth”