Set Design Stagecraft

Set Design – Where to Begin

Types of Stages Depending on the play you are doing can change the type of staging that you might use. Proscenium Arch, Thrust, Theatre in the Round. What are some of the issues/problems that you might have with each different stage? How would you change the set in between scenes?

Proscenium Arch

Thrust

Theatre In The Round

Nature of the Play/Scene

Resources Available The money available will often determine what can be done with a set. Major theatre companies work from a budget and often a designers original ideas have to be modified to fit into the budget.

Drawing a set design

Your Task Design a set using this introduction from the play Waiting For Godot. A country road. A tree. Evening. Estragon, sitting on a low mound, is trying to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both hands, panting.

Your Task In groups of 3 - Select one of the stages commonly found in performance areas. Write a brief plot outline and title for a play you could create. (Be creative) Using detail each person is to design one set for the play, explaining why you chose the elements that you did.