Set Design for Performance - Summer Course

To help me get a better sense of the process behind theatre design, I recently attended a summer short course at UAL: Central St. Martins, entitled 'set design for performance'. Although the course was only a week long I feel like it was a brilliant experience, and has definitely helped to inspire and inform my further work in the field. During the course I learnt how to dissect a text, put it into workable units, research the text, create scale drawing for stage,early concept designs, and the creation of a model box. A lot of great stuff was fitted into the week, giving me a brilliant introduction to the world of theatre design.

The Husband who was to Mind the House

The first set design I will feature on this blog is a continuation of the work I started while on the course. The text that was chosen for us to adapt was entitled "The Husband who was to Mind the House"; an adaptation of a Norwegian folk tale. I was not familiar with the short text but was immediately drawn in by it's witty narrative and rich characters.

The text tells of a husband and wife in 17th century Norway who decide to switch roles for the day; the wife will go out to mow the field, and the husband will stay home and 'mind the house'. Various mishaps through his day lead to the husband eventually getting stuck in the chimney. The play is set on a farm and features not only a husband and wife, but a cow, pig, and baby. It was fun trying to work out how best to portray each of these on stage, and addressing the challenges these might lead to.

The following blog posts will begin to show the development of my ideas and designs for this text.