theater design class
24 lessons on designing for the theater.
the first 8 lessons were theory
1-4:stageforms, history of the stage, organisation of the theater,
5-8: working from a text, developing visual ideas for the stage
the next 8 started with a visit of a theater and were aimed at practical things like working with paint, wood and how to use the tools
9 - 16:construction, safety, transport
the last 8 lessons started with making a model. every student made a design and a model and presented this to the director who commented it. the students executed some parts of it; the whole construction would have taken to much time for a class.
17 - 24: making a model, presenting it and making pictures of the model, painting, plastic materials, tools, wood and panels, sculptural forms
the set was built and used in a play by students of concordia "theater maken" (making theater), they played an adaptation of roald dahl's matilda
i will give classes again in my new studio, these will be organised differently: more like workshops which can take a whole day or successive days. the theory and practical things will be more mixed with each other. for building a real stage more time is needed than available in lessons, and therefore a workshop will be about making and presenting a model and end there. another one will be about construction and strength. students who are interested in completing a set may look for opportunities at amateur theatergroups or assisting in professional work. it is very important for stagedesigners to know enough about the practical way of working on the stage and the impact of their set on the audience and the performance itself.