Design styles evolve along with time and cultural transitions. The setting of time and place will often be apparent in a stage design. A scenic designer should have a strong understanding of the design styles that will inform their work.
In this project, students will research a specific time and place and find images and information compiled into a Google Slides presentation (share with cbridge@pvpa.org). There should be 2 class times dedicated to this project.
Information can include materials or fabrication technology of the time, how differing socioeconomic statuses relates to buildings, or even earlier styles that led into the current period of research. Students should be able to find a wealth of images and information available online, especially for the last century. The further back in time you go, it may be a bit more challenging to find images. Students may have to search for artifacts in museums, archaeological reconstructions/drawings or paintings/artwork from the time that depict design styles
All students should address the following areas:
Students should try to find multiples images for each of these. If by chance students are able to accumulate these aspects quickly, they may choose to look at fashion and costume design for the period, what mean of lighting was used at the time, as these other elements will affect the complete design of the play.
All students will approach this research project, regardless of whether they are choosing to directly use this research to inform their design. Depending on when in the semester the class approaches this research, there are several options of what period to study:
While a great majority of plays that we tend to be exposed to are dominated by “western civilization”, by no means do students need to remain constrained to European or American design history.