This document provides details for the production of a play called "Big Love" including casting, themes, setting, directorial concept, set design, lighting design, and costume design. The play will explore themes of feminism, marriage, and male dominance. It will be set in a mansion in modern-day Italy. The set design includes realistic sets that transition on stage. Costuming will be modern and reflect the personalities and roles of the characters.

1. Big Love
Riham Murad, Julia Roh, Jessica Ho,
Rabia Pirzada

2. Director: The Cast (Brides)
Michelle
Williams
as Olympia
Rachel
McAdams
as Lydia
Rachel
Weisz
as Thyona

3. Director: The Cast (Grooms)
Paul Rudd
as Oed
Ben Barnes
as Nikos
Damian Lewis as
Constantine

4. Director: Cast (Supporting Actors)
Timothy Olyphant
as Piero
Meryl Streep
as Bella
Jared Leto
as Giuliano

5. Director: Cast (Supporting Actors)
Ashton Kutcher
as Leo
Brittany Murphy
as Eleanor

6. Director: Themes
• Feminism and Women’s Independence
•Marriage as a prison sentence
•Male dominance vs. Femininity
• Violence and Escape

7. Director: Setting
• Play will be set in contemporary times with modern
and simple language.
•Will be set in Italy in a mansion.
•Midevening in the summer of
2000

8. Directorial Concept
• Women’s ambition and independence is not to be
taken lightly. Women are usually passionate about
their opinions and act on their opinions. Therefore,
one should beware of a spurned woman.

9. Set Design
• Play takes place in a mansion in modern day Italy
-3 main modifiable sets
-Garden outside the mansion
-Small living room for wedding preparation
-Plain and bare stage for the end
• -Overall Mood as portrayed by the set: romantic and
ominous

10. Set Design
• -All scenes are part of realistic theater (more in tune
with reality and is relatable).
• Play will be on a thrust
stage
• Set transitions will occur
in front of the audience
accompanied by music
and coordinated
choreography

11. Set: Lydia in the bathroom
• Candles and rose petals in the bathtub to represent
the remaining hint of romance and the
foreshadowing of a marriage.
• The bath tub is gray because
as a result of her confusion
and inner struggle to want to
marry, but being pressure not
to

12. Set: Bella and the Girls
•Bella brings out a simple folding
chair and table and places them
on center stage to focus
audience attention
• -Olympia and Thyona are on
her left while Lydia is on her
right.
•Bella will drop the tomatoes to her left
• They are all surrounded by shattered glass

13. Set: Grooms Enter
• Chairs and table are
moved to the side
• Shattered glass remains
to represent the tension
between the characters.
•No other props in order to keep
the audiences’ focus on characters and their dialogue

14. Set: Arrival of Gifts and Wedding
Preparation
• Set change to resemble a
small living room
•White couches to represent
innocence
•Gifts are placed on black
table to foreshadow the
impending doom

15. Set: The Wedding and Murder
•No props, just characters on a stage covered in a
bright white sheet to represent innocence in
marriage and to emphasize the blood and havoc on
the floor after the murders have taken place
• Sheet will be ripped
as the characters
settle and discover
Lydia with Niko

16. Set: The Aftermath and Exit
• There is panic across the
stage, but Lydia and Nikos
are in the back right
corner-the only place
where the floor remains
clean and settled.
•After Bella’s judgment of Lydia’s action, a red carpet
is rolled out where they all gather and take a picture
with the newly weds

17. Light Design
• Lights from all sides of the stage are used
•All characters on stage with a talking role are focused
on with a light from the front above the audience and
from above the stage
• Too bright of a light will clash with the white dresses

18. Lights: Lydia in the Bathroom
•Backdrop is colored with a blue moonlight
• Stage area with the bathtub has a warm
yellow/orange lighting coming from above, bright
enough to see the actor’s faces
• Candles add to lighting-romantic atmosphere
The blue moonlight Warm yellow/orange stage lighting

19. Lights: Bella and the Girls
•The arrival of Olympia and Thyona is
introduced with Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary
• Change the warm yellow/orange lights to a white
light
• Areas with shattered glassware emphasized with
blue light coming from below
stage

20. Lights: Groom Enter
•Overall stage lights dim and some lights focused
towards the ceiling where the helicopter is
•Once the grooms enter the stage stage lights
brighten up again

21. Lights: Arrival of Gifts and Wedding
Preparation
•Once Lydia, Olympia, and Thyona have sprawl into
chairs after throwing themselves to the ground all
stage lights fade out for a set change

22. Lights: The Wedding and Murder
•Some people are enjoying the wedding at
stage left and some have gone crazy at stage
right
• Intensity of the light lessens as it moves from stage
left to stage right
•Murders happen simultaneously then focus light on
Lydia and Nikos

23. Lights: The Aftermath and Exit
•Lydia and Nikos get married
• Bright lights focus on them with a pinkish glow
• Flashing lights when family picture is taken

24. Costume Design
•Modern
• Very feminine attire for women
•Male clothes will exude confidence and wealth. Some
males will have a "fresh" bright outfit that is
masculine

25. Costume: Lydia
• Lydia dress is bold with a deep v-neck that would flatter her
body, and the sheer and transparent sash along wIth her
diamond shape earrings are the highlight of her outfit. Like
her, she doesn't have to be dressed up to showcase her
beauty- simple accessories will bring out her prominent
physical features

26. Costume: Thyona
• Thyona is a carefree girl who expresses her feelings, so her
clothes wouldn't be too tight on her, but shows her curves
and body in the right area. Her dress would have designs that
shows off her body but still cover almost everything.

27. Costume: Olympia
• Olympia- to showcase her personality and features, her theme is princess.
her wedding dress is like a princess style gown with ruffled bottom. she is
a materialistic girl, and to portray that, a volumous gown fits her style
ailing with ribbon heels and pearl earrings

28. Costume: Bella
• Bella is a mother of many children, and she wears a babushka with a
black dress. her babushka is red, white, and black because red
represents life (her experience), black represents her negative
experiences ( sons' deaths) and white represents her happiness (her
marriage, sons, and life). She wears a black dress in the play because it
was mentioned and since she is older, she wears a long-sleeved dress.

29. Costume: Nikos
He is honest and bold, like Lydia and since they became a pair in the end, I
gave him a boutineer that matches with Lydia as they end up together in
the end. His suit is sleek and sharp, someone who portrays confidence
and a man of wealth. It also looks like an armor that protects his inner
feelings which contrasts with his actions that obeys his family.

30. Costume: Constantine
Constantine has only a white
handkerchief that stands for his
simplicity and doesn’t need a
flowery object like a boutonniere
for the wedding. He’s actually
violent compared to the other two
brothers, but still wealthy and
comes off as a confident guy in the
play. Thus, this suit is just simple for
someone who desn’t have many
layers to his personality

31. Costume: Oed
Oed has a flowery boutineer with green
leaves still showing as he is paired up with
Olympia, who has a princess themed look.
His outfit has small but significance
designs on his suit and this compliments
and balances out Olympia’s outfit.

32. Costume: Piero
This outfit follows the spring,
bright-colored theme because of
Italy, and Piero has a warm
personality too, and this shows as
he talks nicely towards the ladies.
A blue plaid shirt along the pants
shows a casual look and it is
something an older men would
wear on an afternoon day.

33. Costume: Guilianno
Guilianno is someone who is also
sweet, but reserves as he doesn’t
like to be involve with other
people’s problems. He wears a
light green shirt that goes with a
spring theme with light khaki
pants as he is still young. He is
someone who also understands
the males’ point of view, and he is
not so different compared to the
grooms beside the idea of
marrying his cousin

34. Costume: Eleanor
• Eleanor: wears a striped dress, young, but
compliments a women during any age, and it has a
spring, summer theme to it with a light colored
wedges, belt, and sunglasses to complete a look for a
vacation in Italy.

35. Costume: Leo
• Leo: Appealing towards the eye, this outfit is suitable for older men.
The sandals are perfect for Italy especially on a vacation and with
the grey and white themed outfit, the clothing
comes out neutral. It is simple, yet has a relaxing
style that can be worn at a vacation house, at
the beach, restaurant, or anywhere. This also
parallels with his personality: relaxing and
positive in love and life.