group 26 presentation theater
- 1. The Importance of Being Earnest Shugufa Fatih, Mark Agholor, Jorge Benitez
- 2. Set Design
- 4. Set Design • The stage of this play is a proscenium stage, because it makes it easy to change scenes to depict realistic stages. For example: o The story unfolded in Algernon’s living room and then it was shifted to Jack Worthing’s country house garden.
- 5. Style of Houses in 1890s
- 6. Tone and Style • Algernon’s Living room • Time period-1890’s in England. • Bright colors depict tone and time of the day. o Happy tone o Day time o Comedy
- 7. Realism vs. Nonrealism • The scenery of this play is realistic o It resembles a recognizable 1890’s English living room with a couch and a table with cucumber sandwiches and tea on it. Algernon and Jack waiting for Aunt Augusta and cousin Gwendolen to arrive. • Lane (servant)- brings Jack’s cigarete box that Jack forgot last time he visited Algernon.
- 8. Realism vs. Nonrealism In Jack’s garden • Trees, flowers, a table with books, tea cups, cake, butter and bread make the play realistic.
- 9. Central Metaphor • The central metaphor of this play is double life. “Bunbury or Bunburying” o The practice of deceiving someone by misbehaving, while representing themselves as being a responsible and trustworthy person. • Algernon escapes to country to visit invalid friend “Bunbury” to get a chance to meet Cecily as being Earnest, Jack’s brother. • Jack pretends to be Earnest in town to get married with Gwendolen and Jack in the country. • They both pretend to be Earnest to get what they want.
- 10. Light Design
- 11. Visibility • The audience must be able to see the actors’ faces and actions on stage • The lighting designer will allow for the actors and other lighting factors to be seen in order to carry out the theme of the play • Revealing shapes and forms will aid in showing the setting, time, and place of the play
- 12. Visual Composition • Lighting focusses on certain parts of the stage that will help the audience to follow what is going on the stage • It will illuminate areas of focus and hide areas of hidden objects that may be seen later
- 13. Mood and Style • The lighting will help elaborate the established mood during any time in the play • Bright lights can symbolize the outdoors along with a feeling of joy and happiness • Lack of lighting can help highlight dark emotions, such as sadness along with the night time • Lighting can help differentiate realistic vs nonrealistic plays • Lighting can also highlight pieces of furniture that help establish the current place of the scene
- 14. A stage set up in this manner would be ideal for act one. The lighting would be spotted on the actors in order for the audience to focus on them, as well as illuminate the entire room to show the setting
- 15. Rhythm of Visual Movement • Changes in light establish a rhythm of movement throughout the play • Slow fades allow for more thoughtful changes • Sudden or staccato changes may unsettle an audience • However both effects can help reflect changes in mood during the play • Its important for the lighting changes to be in sync with the actors movements and directors vision in order to provide a great production
- 16. Central Visual Image • Lighting can strongly influence the way a play is perceived • The wrong lighting can distort or destroy the effect of a play • It can greatly assist the production as a whole with the correct lighting • Lighting provides the greatest aid to the audiences’ visual imagination
- 17. Costume Designer
- 18. Costumes
- 19. Costumes • For the “Importance of Being Earnest,” the setting is 1895 in London, so an Old English style should be arraigned for the clothing. • The characters are mostly upper class, so I stick to having them strictly in formal wear, reflecting their status. • For the men, suits with the pants possibly as breeches, and an optional top hat and cane and for the women, long dresses showing minimal skin. • The two servants should be dressed as butlers in either black and white, or lower class formal attire.
- 20. Major characters
- 21. Major characters • Algernon – wealthy man in his mid 20s; claims to be named Earnest • John Worthing – 29 yr old man, who is vying for the affection of Gwendolen; claims to be named Ernest • Gwendolen – daughter of Lady Bracknell, proposed to by Jack • Cecily – young girl who is ward to John “Jack” Worthing and later engaged to Algernon • Lady Bracknell – mother of Gwendolen
- 22. Minor Characters
- 23. Minor Characters • Lane/Merriman – Butlers • Chasuble – Reverend, who at one point was called upon for christening (should wear robes that would make him distinguishable as a church figure) • Miss Prism – Governess • The minor characters, help support the main storyline involving the proposals and lies of the two couples
- 24. Personalities • Most of the characters had a very vivacious and positive affect about them, with the exception of Lady Bracknell. Algernon, Jack, Cecily, and Gwendolen are all fairly young and ready to love and be loved. • Algernon and Jack were both underhanded for most of the play and very much into being “Bunburyist”, lying to the girls of their dreams to propose. • Lady Bracknell was a very tough case, both demanding and traditional, as shown when was critical of Jack’s standing upon proposing to Gwendolen
- 25. • The play was mostly about being “Ernest” literally and figuratively and the problems and solutions that came about trying to be it.
- 26. Director
- 28. Choosing a Script The director choses the script that he or she is attracted to and understands and appreciates the material This script was chosen because it truly is something I believe: sincerity is important The director then will look ahead and find any areas in the script that may cause problems during the production and tries to find solutions before hand One early issue I noticed was the difference in setting between the three acts The issue is resolved by having a central flooring that can work for the three acts and then moving objects in and out between acts that will help differentiate the settings, such as a couch or coffee table
- 29. Casting
- 30. Casting The director has to cast the play and select which actors will play what characters He or she would have to be able to match performers and characters based on their personalities and physical characteristics I would cast the following actors for their corresponding characters Lane- Michael Cane Algernon- Steve Carell Jack-Vince Vaughn Lady Bracknell- Joan Plowright Gwendolen- Sandra Bullock Miss Prism- Jane Lynch Cecily- Scarlett Johanson Chasuble- Mel Gibson Merriman- Bill Murray
- 31. Spine
- 32. Spine and Theme Also known as the MAIN ACTION, its what motivates the play The spine allows the director to understand the action and proved a nerve center from which to develop it The spine can differ from director to director It also helps the theme of the play resonate continuously Some themes that might correspond to this play are: • Searching for love and happiness • Hypocrisy • Self identification • Double standards between classes • The importance of being earnest • The nature of marriage
- 33. Style
- 34. Style Style in a play should help illuminate the spine The style is the way the play will be presented And because multiple themes are related to real life, realism would best suit this play The actions taken by the characters are all within the confines of the room or certain location they are in, therefore showing as close to the most natural form of the action would allow for the theme to be evident The style will be visible not only through the setting, but the characters, costumes, lighting, sounds and other physical aspects of the play will correspond with it as well This realism style will allow for the characters to showcase their emotions through actions that seem natural to people
- 36. Directorial Concept The director embody the spine and implement the style through developing a directorial concept which derives from vision that unifies the experience for the spectators The period this play was first performed in 1895, and the setting for that time period would work best for this play because of the dialogue it has If I were to try to present it in this modern period, the dialogue would have to change and newer technology would be incorporated, such as cell phones, in order to feel realistic A central image for this play could be a reoccurring metaphor, such as a sculpture of a two faced figure (representing hypocrisy) always standing in the background or rings (representing marriage) hanging on walls as decorations And this play would be best presented in the way it was written, without trying to adapt the characters to modern times