The setting for this production was rather simple in its form and
structure. Within a black void were positioned 11 platform areas. They
were all shaped like smooth weathered stones, with the largest being
positioned in the center. Some of the platforms were more distanced
than the others. They were each at different levels and each had a
different degree and axis of rake. Unified in color and texture, they
also had subtle varieties within these parameters. The platforms were
constructed so as to appear to be floating.
Behind the action was a screen. In most of my projection designs,
screens are integrated into the scenery in a way that they are not
immediately apparent as "screens". This production reversed
this sensibility. Here the screen was quite apparent as just that. We
even accentuated the presentational quality by framing the screen in a
large scale Victorian gilt frame. In using a rear-projection mode, we
were able to use Rosco’s black screen so that when projected images
were not on the screen, we were not left with a white void. The screen
could thus fade somewhat from the picture when needed.
The juxtaposition of the platform "stones" allowed
blocking to be integrated with a scene’s action spilling over and
between the platforms; or the stones could foster an approach of
isolation and reflection.
While one can immediately see in this work a theme akin to that in
The Ugly Duckling, this play is remarkable in the depth of examination
of the theme of what it means to be human itself. Through the episodic
titled structure, each scene examines different aspects of how we view
ourselves as humans, how we view each other, and how society views the
individual. Many combinations and permutations of such perceptions are
examined in the course of the play.
The complexity of examination extends as well to the complexity
imbued in each of the characters. In most instances, the characters in
the play have the ability to be both noble and base depending on a
plethora of influences and factors. In examining the complex issue of
what it means to be human through the lens of complex characters, the
production presents a world with no easy answers.
My job in this production, as I saw it, was to provide for a
physical environment whereby these questions of what it means to be
human could be examined almost in a clinical manner. I saw parallels
between the structure and content of this script, and the work of
Brecht.
The idea of a clinical examination, of course has its parallel
within the scripted setting, with the action taking place literally
within the world of the clinic. There’s also the scripted world of
the side show, and it is interesting to draw parallels. In the script
both of these seemingly opposite worlds are both nothing more than
opportunities to examine the freak of nature. Of course in this
examination we also learn how small the boundary is indeed between
normalcy and the world of the elephant man. In the end it is not clear
if there is any boundary at all.
In building the twin environments of freak-show / clinic, I tried
to capture the dark, dank, cold stone environment of the Victorian
operating theatre. I soon realized that the weathered stone forms that
I was led to use offered a number of possibilities for simultaneous
visual metaphor. While the color and shape clearly had the look of
stone, the color and shape also has a subtle relationship to the forms
and coloration of dead skin and to the color and form of the elephant.
As a designer I rarely use blatant symbols in my work. I find them
usually to be crass. However I do not mind as a designer, the use of
design elements to suggest meaning and intellectual link.
As stones, one could also imagine these to have been weathered by
eons of erosion within a stream. In the scenic metaphor I likened this
to the erosion of values, ideals, and even meaning within the eons of
time and the human experience.
This is a show about relationships so in the composition of the
stage, I worked to create a dynamic environment that could support
close relationships at one moment, and emphasize the gulfs between
people at the next.
I also set up in the environment a juxtaposition of opposites. The
"stones" are weathered, organic in shape, neutral in tone.
But overhead looms the artifice of the gilt Victorian picture frame.
Which depicts reality? Or....does either? There certainly is a paralleled
in the realities of Victorian society vs. the perception of that
reality by those in the empowered society.
