oregonlive.com: Here’s how he describes his set for Seattle Children’s Theatre’s 2004-2005 production of “Sleeping Beauty,” in which the enchanted Briar Rose and her attendants lie within a giant gold-colored picture frame: “That picture frame slid up and downstage and it had scenery within it. So it could change scenes. And then other things flew in front of it.” Like the notorious brambles that shielded Briar Rose from all but the most determined suitor.
3 comments:
Carey Wong’s approach to scenic design is very imaginative yet practical; the use of layers in his designs and models allows for creativity in shaping the stage, as well as makes sense for how drapery and set pieces will be flown in and out, and moved side to side. I appreciate that he is pushing to work on more projects created by Asian American artists, and that he is able to implement his own experience as a Chinese American artist into his work. The detail he mentions from Madama Butterfly seems like something that may be misinterpreted or not noticed by some audience members, highlighting the exact kind of misunderstanding that he suggests in the design. Although I wish I could see his models in real life, I have had the opportunity to visit Chinatown in Portland before and especially enjoyed the Lan Su Chinese Garden, which would be a beautiful space for a theatrical production.
An idea I’’ve been thinking about a lot recently is consistency throughout a designers career, especially as it relates to theatrical designers because they get put on wildly different projects as plays vary within themselves, and really how they bring their own type of designs, design process or motifs throughout their shows and career, and this was very engaging to read. I think the first thing that struck me was probably how much work and budget this takes to do and look well, I’d love to deal with mobility or massive scale in productions but there are a lot of situations where I need to pull back and recognize when something is attainable or not. I was deeply intrigued by this idea of mobile sets, the picture frame in beauty and the beast real seems to be a good way to capitalize on the viewport the audience has in a way that I don’t really see everywhere but that can b closed of or shrouded from the audience in a way that doesn;t draw you out from the show as much as standard theatrical curtains.
I thought Carey Wong’s idea of scenic design is really similar to what I want to do with my designs. I love pieces that move and reveal things to the viewer as they continue viewing and interacting with the piece. “In some ways that’s what life is,” Wong says. “We don’t get to see the whole picture at the very beginning. The appearance of something is what you initially perceive, but as you get to know it and live with it longer, your understanding of it deepens and enrichens.” I really love this idea because it also makes the audience an active participant in their viewing and comprehension of the show in a way that text can’t. I also think his usage of his culture is really important In his work for “Madama Butterfly,” a 1904 opera that’s become a lightning rod for questions about cultural appropriation and controversies over casting of non-Asian actors. Wong created a subversive design that deliberately uses Japanese motifs incorrectly to suggest Western misunderstanding. For Butterfly’s home, he put in shoji screens whose backing can be removed to leave the structure looking like a cage. I love it.
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