Set design and props

PERFORMING

This game of Simon Says will improve your knowledge of stage directions. It works best in an open space. Your chosen area is the pretend stage. Your teacher will point out the different sections of the space and name them using the stage directions in the picture on page 145. Your teacher will call out stage directions, such as ‘Downstage right!’ or ‘Centre stage!’ But… students should only move to that area of the space if the teacher uses the phrase ‘Simon says’ in front of the direction. For example, if the teacher says, ‘Simon says centre stage!’, the students should quickly move to centre stage. Any students who move without the teacher saying ‘Simon says’ are eliminated. For example, if the teacher says ‘Centre stage!’, anyone who does move should be eliminated. The aim of the game is to be the last person standing. Set Design And Props All the scenery, furniture and props the audience sees at a production of a play make up the set design. Props are all of the objects that appear on stage. The set designer’s job is to design and create the look of the physical space in which the action will take place, ensuring everything matches and fits with the director’s intention and the requirements of the play script. It is the overall look of the set that gives the audience information about the setting and world of the text. The picture below left is a set designer’s sketch of the set for a staging of Romeo and Juliet. The picture below right is a photograph of how the actual set looked on stage. ©The Educational Company of Ireland

COMMUNICATING: GROUP DISCUSSION

You can usually tell a lot about the world of the play by looking at the set design and the props the actors use. Divide into small groups, then take a look at the four sets below. What can you figure out about the world of these plays just from looking at the sets? Where and when might the plays take place? How do you know?

WRITING TASK

Imagine you have been given a job as a set designer for a theatre company. Design the stage set for one of the following plays:

Twelve Angry Men by

Reginald Rose

The Girl from the

North Country by Conor McPherson

The Shadow of a

Gunman by Sean O’Casey

This is a 1957 New

York courtroom drama, where the fate of a young Puerto Rican teenager is being decided by twelve jurors. This is a musical set in a boarding house in Minnesota, USA, during the Great Depression of 1929.

This play is set in 1920’s Dublin during the time of the Irish War of Independence, with the action taking place in a Dublin tenement building. Writing Tips Research the setting of each play. Look through pictures online to get a sense of how things looked at the time. Make a list of the things you would expect to see in this setting. Sketch out your set design in your activity book (see page 93). Finally, write a paragraph explaining the choices you have made. ACT IVITY ©The Educational Company of Ireland