Speculative Design Project: "the seven Acts of mercy"

The third project begun in Term two. It was the first time that we needed to design the Set, costume scheme, and think of lighting design for a play. This project showed us a glimpse into the role of a Theatre Designer and the challenges that we will face in the future.

Tackling the Speculative Design Project came with challenges, yet it taught me skills and more about the Theatre Design world. For the new Project we were required to read the script of “The Seven Acts of Mercy” by Anders Lustgarten and design a Set and fitting Costume Scheme. The play is named after the painting by Caravaggio and takes place in Liverpool in 21st century and in Naples in the 16th century. Through reading it orally it helped generate the start of ideas.

The start of the Design Process:

Similarly, to our Costume Design Project, this one required vigorous research in order to comprehend the locations and characters of the play. In order to tackle this, I conducted both primary and secondary research which included exploring Nottingham and London. I visited St Mary’s church to understand the architecture of a church in England, interacting with people and observing others in Nottingham helped me to interpret what kind of characteristics I want to establish through costumes, and by focusing on the architecture in both cities I became inspired to start sketching out ideas. To expand my knowledge on Design we were given the task to explore different artists and movements through library sources. This introduced me to many new international artists which I have taken inspiration from and explored their creative process that allows them to create. All these ways of research were effective and aided my thinking process which led to start sketching ideas for the set.

The Process taught me many things!

Once sketches and ideas were made, we began with rough model making. This meant that we used recycled card that we collected over time from packaging and other materials that would have gone to waste. Through this process we started thinking more three dimensional which led to changes and more challenges such as the use of different materials. It taught me that as well as there is flexibility in creating, all materials have their limitations and it requires creative thinking to find a solution to such problems. I enjoyed this exploration of my set and it was the first step into the vigorous changes that occurred to my second draft model. By creating a storyboard, I recognized a lot of issues that I was facing throughout the first design which pushed me to change it.

Diving into photo albums:

My main source of inspiration for both designs was the World War two memorial in Hiroshima which I visited frequently as a child. Similarly, to the architecture in Italy with rounded arches I incorporated this piece of design into mine on the Naples half of the set. Through this Lighting design can be effective.

A phrase I stuck by was “worlds colliding” which I made happen with the set. This was important to me as it was the impression, I had that Leon’s character wished for. Seeing the set for Les Misérables in London I was able to use a revolve for this part of the design.

What about Costumes?

Along with the design of the set came the costumes. These needed to match our design. Throughout the research process I visited the National Gallery, and the V & A in London to be inspired from their exhibitions. I came across several artists from the 1600s. However, I wanted to contrast it with High-end Fashion design and combined these two for the Nepal’s characters (Caravaggio, Lavinia, Marchese) still sticking with “worlds colliding”. I took the same approach when it came to Liverpool (Leon, Mickey, Emily). Exploring this through sketching and creating Mood Boards I finalised my designs.

Reflecting...

In reflection, the biggest challenge faced was thinking less logical for set design as this restricted my process and stage. Next time I would like to explore my creativity in a more abstract form.