Set:
For the set of project 3, we decided on a minimalist set as not to distract from the performance itself and also to save time. Another reason for this is because due to the incredibly swift pacing and scene changes, moving set pieces on and off stage would not have been possible without elongating the play for way more than needed. I feel that this decision was fitting for our naturalistic acting style as it caused the audience to rely solely on our performance as actors to tell where each scene was, resulting in us being forced to try our best, also allowing the viewers to use their imagination.
Lighting:
For lighting, we decided to use spotlights. This shrouded the stage in darkness except for the narrators, and the actors whilst they were on stage. This made changing scenes easier when someone multi-roling had to quickly change character for the following scene, as all we had to do was dim the lights and allow them to get in position before the lights turned back on. This also put emphasis on the narrators whilst separating them from the scenes playing out behind them, giving the audience a clue into realizing that they were omniscient narrators, not characters within the play. I feel that this also enhanced the dark mood of the play, as it had quite literally enveloped the stage in darkness.
Sound:
We used no additional sounds or music for our performance, as with this being a naturalistic play, we felt that music was not necessary and if anything, may take away from the acting itself and distract from the story. When we’re trying to use a purely naturalistic acting style in a tragedy, we don’t want to rely on music to set the atmosphere. While it could potentially enhance the atmosphere, we wanted it to be silent in order to fit the realistic, empty feeling we hoped to convey.
Costume:
We had not planned costumes for our performance, however I feel that our lack of costumes gave the characters a more modern, realistic feel since we all wore our own usual clothes. That, and, with our course dress-code requiring us to wear all black, this helped to nurture the dark visuals and create a gloomy atmosphere.
Props:
For props, we had created a handful before we reworked the entire performance. We had created two, small signs: one said “Postal Strike” with a colorful, ornate pattern and the other said”BANISHED” in big, bold letters. These were supposed to be used to comically paint a picture of the plot. However, once we realized we were supposed to adapt the script and not follow it verbatim, we discarded these props to stick to a more somber setting. When we began reworking the script, we were originally intending on using sword props to demonstrate the multiple death scenes, but decided they looked too comedic and also decided against them. The two props we did stick with, however were a piece of paper made to look like an envelope and half of a coconut shell. The envelope was supposed to be Juliet’s letter to Romeo that never reached him, and the coconut shell was supposed to be the poison the two characters took to end their lives. These two props worked well in our scene, however I think next time instead of a coconut shell, I would use something else, like a vial or flask perhaps. The coconut shell worked because it was what we had on hand, but it wasn’t what I would have thought to use.