After experiencing many different plays upon various stages, I looked at plans of several of these, ranging from the open air theatre in London to the Wooster Group Theatre stage in New York. I decided that the most interesting style of stage was that of an archaic shakespearean stage, one I am most familiar with, after viewing most plays at my local theatre at the RSC.
After recently seeing a specific performance of Twelfth Night at the rsc, whereby the stage set design was radically altered, I confirmed this setting as ideal for basing my virtual exhibition; the set of Twelfth Night went from a corner of the stage being a pool of water where characters emerge from and fall into to a bedroom-like setting that completely defies gravity - a bed stands almost upright, dragged by the escalating floorboards, leading up to the semi-floating old fashioned bath tub.
The lack of sense and refusal to accept the inevitable falling of objects caused by gravity reinforces the concurrent themes throughout the play itself; notions of madness, disorder and a complete lack of sense. The chaotic nature of the set design and the locating of the props create these dimensions to the play. Further more subtle hints were the occasional ticking of a clock that resonated though the stage; the epitome being the striking at which point the character Olivia states 'The clock abades me with the waste of time'; sound dimensions to my stage set up would be an intriguing idea to play with within the space to create a sound art/performance exhibition.
Set designs have various repercussions in terms of conveying meaning within the play itself, and here with Twelfth Night, the artistic content lies within the use of props and their positioning (much like the act of curating itself) and ultimately the props themselves as they cast various shadows and moods upon the stage, reinforcing the audiences' reaction to the play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GcG5qzkd_Hw
(URL to the trailer)
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