| Drama 302 | Fall 06 |
| Set Design | David Birn, Instructor |
FOR 9.3 : FIRST SKETCHES : WAITING FOR GODOT
The process of translating one’s initial mental impulses into visual expression is not a simple matter of transcription. Before you can explain your ideas to the other collaborators, you have to explain it to yourself. It takes exploration and experimentation to discover how the vivid but intangible impulses you take away from your initial reading of the text can be expressed visually. Often, what we think we mean and what we actually mean are two different things. Sketching – quickly and roughly drawing your 3 dimensional ideas on a 2 dimensional peice of paper - is one way of figuring out what “where we are”.
THE ASSIGNMENT
3 (or more) sketches and accompanying ground plans which explore possible ways to express your initial response to WAITING FOR GODOT.
Aim to make one sketch reflect as literally as possible Becket’s own very precise description of where the play takes place.
In another sketch, give yourself permission to do something very different from Becket’s instructions in order to vividly and pointedly express your own point of view about the play. Go absolutely wild.
In the third, try to find a way to synthesize the two approaches.
Please keep in mind that the goal is to explore thoughts about manifesting the play, not just the set. Aim to depict a particular (and important) moment of the play in its entirety: characters, space, lighting, props, costumes, blocking. Try to show us how this idea about “where we are” relates to the specific events described by the text.