Group 8 Presentation of the Collaboration Project about the play "The Woolgatherer" Director - Justin Valladares Lighting - Stephania Delgado Costumes - Andre Porter Set - Jason Pho

1. The Woolgather
byWilliamMastrosimone
Justin Valladares – Director
Stephania Delgado – Lighting
Andre Porter – Costumes
Theatre 1331 – Jon L. Egging

2. History of the play
 The time period of the play The WoolGatherer is set in South
Carolina in the Early 1980’s. Rose works at a store’s candy counter
and it is implicitly revealed that she is mentally unstable from her
past. Cliff is a foul-mouthed truck driver who wanders in her store
after his truck breaks down with the hopes of having a one night
stand. Even know though Rose is a little crazy and Cliff is a bad
boy, at the end of the play they are able to work out their
differences and fall in love.

3. Script
 The Play chosen has been The
Woolgatherer, written by
William Mastrosimone.
 It was first printed in 1981
although it had premiered at
Rutgers University in 1979.
 This play was chosen for the
development of the characters
who are strangers at the
beginning of the play and are
lovers when the play ends, as
well as for the struggles and
fears that surface as the play
progresses.
 These mixed emotions and
conflicts give way to an
interesting and engaging play.

4. Casting– FemaleLead
 Rose
o 23-25 years of age
o Moved out of her parents house to
live with a roommate.
o Works at a store behind the candy
counter, making minimum wage.
o Single, yet dreams of true love.
o Idealist, believes in a better world.
o Physically weak, skinny, fragile.
o Soft voice
 Actress Kirsten Dunst would be an ideal
cast for Rose.
Director’s interpretation of the character

5. Casting– MaleLead
 Cliff
o 30-35 years of age
o Foul-mouthed Trucker
o Terrible sense of humor but he
thinks he’s funny
o Casanova - likes to have one
night stands.
o Doesn’t care much about the
meaning of life and others, sees
the world as it is.
o Physically strong, built body.
o Strong, loud voice.
 Actor Jake Gyllenhaal would be an
ideal cast for Cliff.
Director’s interpretation of the character

6. “Spine”
 The “spine” for this play will be “Breaking Free”.
Throughout the play, both characters are trapped in
their own lives and past, seeking to be free.
 Rose – Rose is trapped by her past. She can’t cope
with the fear of having seen the birds murdered, she’s
terrified of the cruelty that she witnessed that she
keeps her windows boarded, not because her landlord
can’t get them down, but because she’s afraid. She is
trapped in her apartment wishing she could see the
world and the ocean, so as to free herself from her
four walls.
 Cliff – Cliff is trapped by his work. Even though he can
cross entire continents in his truck, he always does so
alone. He is trapped by the loneliness of his
job, always seeking company, even if only for a night.
He wants to escape from this wheeled prison and find
comfort in the company of others.
 At the end, both characters are able to look past their
differences, and are united in a mutual feeling that
might help them break free of their struggles.

7. Themes
 The Themes of the play:
 Freedom – Freedom of
fear, freedom of the loneliness of
travel, freedom of their daily lives.
 Love – Love conquers
everything, even fear, trauma, and
mental instability.
 Fear – Rose is full of fears from her
past, her neighbor, from open
windows, from saying bad words.
 Humor – Cliff often tries humor to
lighten up the mood, although he
fails to do so with Rose

8. Production Style
 The style of the production for this play will be that of
Realism. We want the focus of this play to be on the
characters, thus everything else must be as real as it gets
in order to be dismissed or so that the audience doesn’t
have to imagine much.
 Thus, a naturalistic style would be chosen. To make the
set as close to life as possible. A working
bed, table, chair, even a working refrigerator with a light.
A window with real boards and curtain, and even dead
real plants here and there.
 The characters would speak and act as if they were not
being seen by an audience. The characters will not be
allowed to have soliloquy or to speak their thoughts.

9. Directorial Concept
 Period
 The play will take place in modern times, where Cliff can drive a
Truck and it is customary for a 23-25 year old girl to live in a
small apartment by herself while working at a five-and-dime.
 Central Image
 The central image for this play will be a cage. Maybe there is a
key chain of a bird in a cage on Cliff’s keys, or perhaps Rose used
to have a bird in her apartment and only the Cage is left. The
symbol for the play will be a cage that depicts that the
characters are trapped in their own lives.
 Purpose
 The purpose shall be to instill in the audience a feel of being
captive, as are Rose and Cliff, and to finally liberate them by the
power of love. All this concepts will work together accomplishing
this purpose.

10. The Style For Rose
 Roses character is a unique one because she is just a five-and-dime
worker but she has a little sexy side to her I have her in a plain navy
blue dress. Even if it’s a dress it’s still short a little to contrast her
abused past and her closed off personality. Also her shoes would be
white and flat since she is simple and on her feet a lot. She will also
have a navy blue hair tie. Her hair would be in a long pony tail and
her dress would come down to a little bit above the knee.

11. The Style for Cliff
• Cliff is a bad boy. He’s foul-mouthed and bold. He is a truck
diver so I think he’s sloppy a little but not a lot kind of simple.
Cliff would wear a long sleeve white shirt, with some blue
jeans, boots not too clean but not real dirty, and a baseball
hat.

12. Visibility, Shape and Forms
• Objects such as the window being cover up, the
crate, the one chair, the bed will be visible to all
audience.
• The lighting will be normal apartment lighting, not too
bright and not too dark. The lighting will be a little
dull, like fog on an empty road.

13. Focus and Composition
• With the play only having two characters, there won’t be any
spot lights aimed directly at one person. Both of the
characters are important to the play, so we won’t single one of
them out

14. Mood and Style
• Mood would be changed along with the style to make this play
have a realistic feeling.
• It will simulate the effect of ordinary sources

15. Reinforcement of Central
Image
• The lighting will stay about the same throughout the whole
play. Since it is only performed in one set/scene, it will be
better to be consistent with the lighting.

16. Environment of Set and
Design Concept
• The play takes place
in a small
apartment with
only one
bed, table, and
crate.
• The window is
boarded up which
makes the room
feel less open.

17. Mood and Style of Set
• The lighting should be dimmer at times of sadness, but should
be bright during times of comic relief.

18. Realistic vs Non-realistic
Theatre
• A realistic drama is a play that is realistic similar to life. There
is nothing unusual from ordinary life. A non-realistic drama is
a play that is based on poetic theories and things that are not
common in daily life.

19. Locale and Period
• The play takes place 1981 in Southern Philadelphia.

20. Central Image and Visual
Metaphor
• There was only one chair and one cup in Rose’s apartment. They are
metaphors for how she and Cliff are lonely. The boarded up window
symbolizes how Rose and Cliff are trapped into their own worlds
rather than open to the free world.