Theatre: Art in Action

Chapter 6: Technical Theatre

Overview

All members of the design team go through a similar process of script analysis, preparation, and execution of their tasks. Effective production design should be informative, communicating time and place; expressive, evoking theme and mood; appropriate, suitable for the play's action and the performance space; and usable, namely, flexible, workable, and dramatically dynamic.

Set designers must analyze the script, go through a series of sketches and renderings that culminate in a production model, and then begin set construction. Scene painters transform set pieces into visually stimulating and appropriate facades, completing the illusion for an audience. Props offer clues about the characters and the world they inhabit, so prop designers must create props with the integrity of the play in mind. Lighting designers visualize how a play can best be lit and, in turn, create a lighting plot. Sound designers use sound for three basic purposes: amplifying speech, creating special effects, and supplying music. Costume designers, like set designers, work closely with the director to create the best look for each actor, figuring out whether they will pull, rent, buy, borrow, or build each costume item. Makeup designers need to complete a makeup plan that works to elucidate characterization, mood, and theme for an audience.