CMU School of Drama


Friday, April 07, 2017

Lights Out

Pittsburgh in the Round: Setting controls a play.

It’s its backbone.

This is particularly true when the setting contains an entire plot within a singular space. Also, particularly true when the audience feels forced into it, packed into the confined atmosphere that’s suddenly been created.

1 comment:

Emily Lawrence said...

When I first opened this article, I was not expecting with what it eventually turned out to be. I thought that it would discuss the importance of technical theatre and how vital it is for designers to set the mood and tone for the show. Instead it took an interesting turn towards mannequins. I really think it was an interesting directorial decision to do this, but I am also not a very big fan of it in general. It is an interesting approach in order to get the audience looking through just the lens of the alive person, but I also think it would be more powerful to see another human being. Then you see them and wonder what they are thinking rather than just looking at a piece of plastic next to someone sharing a story between the two of them. It is a very interesting concept and can make people think, but I also think that it limits the actors to what they can do and limits the audience almost too much.