The document discusses the roles and responsibilities of various theatre designers. It explains that designers must understand how the play's environment reflects the story and characters. Design team meetings are held to define a central metaphor, address budget and scheduling, and discuss safety concerns. Set designers visualize the playwright's words and director's ideas. They create sketches and technical drawings. Lighting, sound, costume, prop, and makeup designers also must have specialized knowledge to enhance the production. The work of all the designers comes together to create the final experience for the audience.

1. Chapter 9
The Art of Design
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2. What Designers Say
 “Design is an act of transformation.”
Ming Cho Lee, Theatre designer
 “In the last analysis the designing of stage
scenery is not the problem of an architect
or a painter or a sculptor or even a
musician, but of a poet.”
Robert Edmond Jones, Theatre designer
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3. From Page to Stage:
Doing the Homework
Designers must often do detailed investigation into
locations and historical periods. Some questions to
ask:
 How does the play’s environment affect and reflect the
story and characters?
 How do the characters feel about their environment?
 How does the environment relate to the play’s theme?
 What is the time period of the play?
 What are the budgetary limitations?
 What are the physical limitations of the stage?
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4. From Page to Stage:
Design Team Meetings
The purpose of these meetings is to:
 Define a central metaphor for the play
 Accommodate the physical limits of the theatre in which
the play will be performed
 Determine and set the budget
 Work out scheduling for each aspect of the production
 Address possible safety concerns
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5. Types of Stages
 Found or created
spaces
 Proscenium arch
 Apron or lip
 Fly system
 Wings
 Thrust stage
 Arena
 Black box
Terry Manzo/The Stratford Festival of Canada
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6. Theatrical Styles
 Realism
 Simplified
 Selective
 Expressionism
 Surrealism
 Symbolism
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7. Filling the Empty Space
Basic Elements of Design
 Line
 Dimension
 Balance
 Movement
 Harmony
 Color
 Texture
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux
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8. Designing the Set
(Slide 1 of 2)
 Set designers take the words of the playwright
and the ideas of the director and turn them into
visual imagery
MichaelEarl/UniversityofWyomingArchives
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or, duplicated or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

9. Designing the Set
(Slide 2 of 2)
 Designers who draw their designs by hand often
make numerous thumbnail sketches
 Designers often use computer aided design
(CAD), which includes elevations and floor plans
MichaelEarl/UniversityofWyomingArchives
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or, duplicated or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

10. Designing the Lights
(Slide 1 of 3)
 A lighting designer creates different moods with
light
PatriciaSwitzer
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11. Designing the Lights
(Slide 2 of 3)
 The first indoor form of lighting was the use of
candles during the Renaissance
 See Sebastiano Serlio’s Architettura
 The second major shift occurred in the 1840s
with gas-lit theatres
 Sources of the term “limelight”
 The third major shift occurred in the 1890s with
the addition of electricity
 Adolph Appia (1862-1928) – the first modern lighting
designer
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or, duplicated or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

12. Designing the Lights
(Slide 3 of 3)
 Lighting plot
 Gels
 Gobos
 Motivated light
 Non-motivated
light
RichardFinkelsteinPhotography
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13. Designing the Sound
Sound designers must have a detailed knowledge of:
 Acoustics
 Electronics
 Digital music editing programs
 Audio mixing boards
 Microphones
 Effects processors
 Amplifiers
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or, duplicated or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

14. Designing the Costumes
(Slide 1 of 2)
The costume designer is an expert at play analysis,
especially character analysis. This is why most costume
designers begin with the words the characters say.
RobbieJackPhotography
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or, duplicated or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

15. Designing the Costumes
(Slide 2 of 2)
Costumes reflect a character’s:
 Social and economic status
 Lifestyle
 Age
 Country
 Occupation
 Education
 Geographical origin
 Historical period
 Season and time of day
TinaHaatainen-Jones
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16. Designing the Props
 Set props—Anything that sits on the set
(e.g., sofas, chairs, beds)
 Hand props—Any objects actors handle
while on stage (e.g., pens, fans, cigars,
money, umbrellas)
 Set decorations—Similar to props except
they are not touched by actors
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or, duplicated or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

17. Makeup, Wigs, and False Noses
 Straight
makeup
 Character
makeup
Reuters /Corbis
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18. Curtain Call
Although the designers aren’t part of the curtain
call, their work is onstage for all to applaud.
MichaelEarl/UniversityofWyomingArchives
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or, duplicated or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.