Theatre Projects:

VOICES OF COURAGE

My Process:

Lighting Grids/Plots

I worked closely with the set designer during this show not only as a director, but also from a lighting standpoint. Because the team created a unique raised stage, I spent a lot of time deciding which lights I could use in this intertesing stage confiiguration that would be most effective

Inspiration

I used Microsoft OneNote to type reminders, jot down ideas, and create picture collages in order to capture my initial inspiration. As a very visual person, having some images helped me organize my ideas and communicate them with other directors and members of the design crew.

Application

In order to finalize my initial ideas and easily program and re-adjust my lighting, I created a script where I labeled each light cue as "LQ" with a short description of each individual light. This way, I could be specific with changes when I later made adjustments after rehearsals.

The Results:

In Fall of 2019, SMCHS Talon Theatre Students created an original fall play titled "Voices of Courage". I was able to

co-direct and design lighting for the portion of the show focused on inclusivity for those with various disabilities. This was my first time designing lights for a large production, and the bold colors really reflect my creative risk-taking throughout this process. While designing the lighting of the show, I thought a lot about people's natural response to certain colors. I was inspired to use bold and vibrant hues to represent various emotions since these shades are somewhat uncommon in everyday life. These uncommon colors help represent that many view disabilities as "uncomfortable" to discuss or address before taking the time to learn more. I also hoped to represent the lives of individuals living with a disability by using contrasting vibrant colors and shadows. The various color schemes demonstrate that although disabilities are impactful on a person, a disability does not define that person and despite the conditions represented, everyone is fully human no matter their circumstances and should be treated as such. The combinations of these empathy-inspiring lights not only embody the emotions of the characters, but they also aid in demonstrating the individual matters, not the disability. For example, I used a contrasting color sequence to represent a sensory-overload episode, commonly experienced by people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder. By using symbolic lighting to communicate these elements of the show, I hope to inspire empathy and understanding in the audience.

Other experiences:

Theatre Arts 1, 2 and IB Theatre HL

I have also designed lights for, and assisted others in designing lights for, many smaller performances and projects in my four years of school theatre classes. My process for lighting and other technical design is usually pretty similar to the one shown above. I enjoy using OneNote to create vision boards (or "inspiration pages" as I sometimes call them) and then decide what works and what can be improved upon. For many shows, I don't always begin a process with one clear focus, and my inspiration pages are full of a variety of concepts. I often prefer to discover things along the way through experimentation rather than limit myself to my initital idea.

For this specific project, I created a child-like piece with more mature themes discussing human violence. The show was about a giant and was based on Pamela Howard's elements of Scenography. This meant I designed all technical elements (sound, set, projections, lighting, costume) as well as acted in the piece and created the script. If you would like to learn more about the intentions of my piece, feel free to write me an email!

This experience was especially interesting because I was able to experiment with lighting to create a sunrise and sunset sequence.

Costume Design

For Talon Theatre's 2020 Fall Play, "All the World's A Stage," I designed the show's costumes alongside another student. Although I had always been very passionate about fashion and costume design, this was my first time creating costumes for an entire cast.

One thing I really loved about this process was the fact that "All The World's A Stage" is a collage of Shakespearean shows, so I was able to work with a variety of styles and time periods within one unified piece.

After planning out basic concepts, I began to find images of specific costume pieces online and create virtual sketches. My costume sketches were certainly not perfect, but considering this was my first experience drawing outfits on a computer I thought the sketches turned out well! It was incredible to eventually see the cast in their costumes and feel like my image had jumped off the page and into real life. I felt very fulfilled seeing how excited the cast members were while wearing in their costumes.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, my co-designer and I were unable to hand-pick the costumes during the costume pull, but in some ways, this helped us because it forced us to be very specific about what we wanted when we created the costumes! We even designed color-coordinated masks for different scenes from different shows.

Final Results

Photograph taken by Steve WIley

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