Scenic Design

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PURPOSES OF SCENERY
The most important purpose of scenery is to provide a place to act

The set should define the time and setting of the play:
 Time
 Historical period
 Season of year
 Time of day
 Changes in time during the play
PURPOSES OF SCENERY
Setting
Climate / geographical conditions
Socioeconomic situation
Cultural background
Political-governmental system of area
Interior or exterior
Rural or urban
Real or imaginary
PURPOSES OF SCENERY
Reveals interrelationships between people
 Rank
 Stations, influence
 Positions in their families, office or community
Provides a way to focus the audiences attention on

the actor
 Elevating on a platform or stairs
 Framed by a doorway
 Triangular blocking with furniture and actors with focus on the middle
PURPOSES OF SCENERY
Indicates the style of the production

 Romantic
 Epic
 Fantasy
Creates a mood and atmosphere

 Bright yellows, oranges and pinks=light & cheery
 Dark, cool colors, grays, blacks = heavy & serious
STAGING CONVENTIONS
Most sets are realistic depictions that follow a few
staging conventions:
 Almost all furniture faces the audience

 Exterior doors are usually offstage right
 Interior doors are usually stage left or upstage
 Fireplaces tend to be placed on stage-right walls
 French doors are usually stage left
 Living-room and dining-room furniture often appear in the same area
Effective scenery and design should:
 Match the author’s intent and the director’s interpretation
 Always serve the actor, never dominate him/her
 Complement the costumes, never clash with them
 Never become an obstacle course for blocking
 Work toward consistency, avoiding distractions
 Aid the action of the play, not hinder it
 Fit the needs of the play
 Simple in design, construction, and shifting
DEVELOPMENT OF SCENERY
RENAISSANCE
 Stage design as we know it started in Italy in the mid 1400’s
 Actors performed against painted scenes (often showing perspective)
 Raked stage developed
Stage slanted upward toward the back

Where terms upstage and downstage came from
 Development of Proscenium and:
Backdrops
revolving stages
Shutters (movable flats on tracks )
RESTORATION
 In England, most acting was on raked aprons
 Proscenium was thick wall with doors on either side for entrance and exits onto apron
EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY
 Scenery made to suit the individual play
 Creation of typical scenes:
Interior = canvas drops and painted wings

Exterior = painted trees, fountains, gates, paths
Entrances parallel to back wall
Street scenes = painted buildings, store windows, signs,
street lamps
MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY
More accurate historical and realistic scenery
Realism brought changes:
Gradual shrinking of the apron
Addition of orchestra seats
Elimination of painted backdrops
Closing of wings giving illusion of left and
right walls
TWENTIETH CENTURY
 Naturalism developed
Photographically accurate sets
Scenery sometimes distracted audience from the action
 Selective Realism
An impression is better
Convey an idea of locale not exact replica
Plastics (3 dimensional structures and Cut-outs (two
dimensional profiles) placed against a drop/sky/etc
Proscenium stage called “forth wall theatre” an invisible
wall where audience observes action
 Dramatic lighting introduced
TYPES OF SETS
BOX SET
 Two or three walls built of flats
 Covered by a ceiling
 Give the impression of a room
 Gives a set
depth and
naturalness
UNIT SET
Made up of several units that can be moved, turned

and interchanged to create several settings
Usually made with several flats in combination
Very practical for schools
Present one-act plays program
Multi-set plays
Built units can be reused to fit almost any play
 PERMANENT SET
 Staging rarely changes during the play

 Basically three kinds
 Single permanent set
 Controlled lights help determine locale-outside/inside
 Set with many openings
 Doors, windows, curtains, background, etc are placed
behind openings to simulate scene changes
 Multiple set
 Modified permanent set
 Several distinct acting areas separated with dividers
like platforms or railings
SCREEN SET
 Consist of two fold and three-fold flats
 Forms walls against a drapery background
 Cover openings/furnishings for quick scene changes
PROFILE SETS
 Called minimum sets
 Flats form the entire perimeter (cyclorama)
 Colored lights & gobos suggest changes
CURTAIN SETS
 Uses curtains for
backdrop of play
PERIAKTOI (PRISMS)
Three six foot flats

Equilateral or isosceles triangles mounted to a
wheeled carriage
Can be pivoted for changes
4 – 8 needed for a set
Doors, windows, etc hang between two Periaktoi
Good for schools with no fly space or wing space!
PERIAKTOI
PERIAKTOI USED IN SOUND OF MUSIC
OUTSIDE SCENE OUTSIDE VILLA
M A R I A’ S B E D R O O M VILLA LIVING ROOM
OUTSIDE CONVENT INSIDE CONVENT

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G N A

The most important purpose of scenery is to provide a place to act

Provides a way to focus the audiences attention on

Indicates the style of the production

Creates a mood and atmosphere

 Almost all furniture faces the audience

Stage slanted upward toward the back

Interior = canvas drops and painted wings

Made up of several units that can be moved, turned

 Staging rarely changes during the play

Three six foot flats

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