Cedars, November 2017

November 2017 14 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Building Worlds to Remember How stages are designed to bring stories to life and immerse audiences by Nathan Robertson W e’ve all heard the age old ad- age, “Home is where the heart is.” This idea of ‘place’ is a vital part of shaping who we are and helping us to identify various experiences we’ve been through. Whether it’s the room where you met your best friend, or the front porch where you had your first breakup, place and setting help us to remember experi- ences. Thus, it would only make sense, that when it comes to experiencing theater, it is important for the story to have a clear place and setting. Therein comes the necessity for quality stage design. Early last month, Cedarville Universi- ty’s fall production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” wrapped up its final performance. Perhaps one of the most talked about as- pects of the show was its realistic set design that made audiences feel as if they were in the annex with the Frank family. It begins with the various parts of the design team meeting with the director and turning the director’s concept into a physi- cal plan. The experience of the set designer and their relationship with the director of- ten dictates the amount of control that they have over the creation of the design. Gisela Mullican, a Cedarville graduate with a theatre design degree, was the set designer for “The Diary of Anne Frank” and for upcoming winter production of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” Her initial ideas for the set design all depend on the kind of play she’s working with. “For Anne Frank, it was obviously going to be a house,” Mullican said. “If it’s more abstract [the set designer] can have more de- sign control with what I would want to do.” The upcoming production of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is going to be much more in the realm of the abstract. The central metaphor for the show is going to be “Jove.” Due to C.S. Lewis’ love of cosmolo- gy, there is a theory that C.S. Lewis wrote the sevenNarnia novels with each one represent- ing the seven planets in medieval cosmology. Jove (the planet Jupiter in medieval cosmology) will be the representative plan- et for “The Lion, the Witch, and the Ward- robe.” This theme will play heavily into the design, which makes it a completely different challenge than something more straightforward like a house. Mullican said her greatest challenge for the upcoming show will be its differences from past shows. “For Narnia, it’s more abstract, a whole lot more so than for Anne Frank,” Mullican said. “The hardest part was narrowing down the direction I wanted to go with it.” Working along with the set designer and director is the technical director, also known as the TD. It is up to the TD to take the design that’s been conceived and turn it into a physical reality. Tim Phipps, also a Cedarville gradu- ate, has served as the technical director and production manager for over 10 years. With years of experience comes the understand- ing of the steps that need to be taken in or- der to begin building the set. “I’ll work closely with our design- er, whoever our scenic designer is for that show,” Phipps said. “Usually even before they start their design we’ll start talking concepts and ideas, more of the question of, ‘What can we do?’ What things might work, what things we probably can’t do.” Other issues inevitably arise, such as complying to the dimensions of the venue — which dictates how far out, how high, and where things have to be built. A dialogue about those issues begins early in the plan- ning process. Once there is an actual drawn plan for the set, the TD takes over and looks for any problems. With “The Diary of Anne Frank,” Phipps had to speak withMullican about the shallowness of the set. He suggested adding Photo by Naomi Harward The strike crew begins striking, or tearing down, the Anne Frank house in the week following the show’s closing night.