Attention Designers:

The Spotlights are attempting to act as their own designers this year; creating costumes, set design, special effects and music that will bring their own version of A Midsummer Night's Dream to the stage here at SELAH.  Last week we spent some precious class time on the development of the production. From that time we walked away with a varied amount of ideas including setting the play anywhere between the Medieval times through the 1980's or perhaps even the future!

The conceptual process of staging a play can be daunting, but just as one creates a composition of art, one must also consider all elements of art in their design. Per the director, the play needs to have a central theme.  Here are some examples of Shakespearean movies set in other time periods:

As You Like It (2006) adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh. 
The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony
in late 19th century Japan.  

Romeo & Juliet (1996), directed by Baz Luhrmann.  Set in modern day Miami,
the Montagues and the Capulets are represented as warring business
empires and swords are replaced by guns.

Macbeth (2010), PBS Great Performances sets the play in pre WWII Europe where
Macbeth is portrayed as a power hungry dictator.

Each one of these plays had a subplot that went along with the play, but each one accurately adapted the Shakespearean text without compromising the characters or the language.  Although movies and film have the option of setting their scene with subtitles and elaborate sets, there is no reason we cannot bring similar magic to our own stage.  Some things to consider for inspiration are not only historical periods or modern fashion trends, but perhaps great works of art.  

Can you imagine a stage designed to portray
Vincent VanGogh's Starry Night?

One theme that came up more than once during our discussion was to have a futuristic aspect to the production.  Considering the age of our cast (teenagers that have their futures before them) and the context of the play (young lovers with their future's ahead of them) this may not be as far fetched as it seems.  The early twentieth century was also mentioned as a time when the influence of the new industrial age made man feel invincible (just as the lovers did when they left the safety of their homes for the uncertainty of the woods).

The Street Enters the House (1911) by Umberto Boccioni; an example
of the art movement, Futurism.

Wherever the influence comes from, the Spotlights have the potential to put together a creative and exciting production.  Most of our students have been acting and studying Shakespeare since they were very young and they have the potential to create a play that would rival any major theater in the city.

A quick Google search for A Midsummer Night's Dream Stage Design and Costume Design should get the creative ideas moving so follow the marked links for inspiration.  And come prepared to class next week as we have much work to do to pull together a cohesive and perhaps even, an entertaining production!