MUCH ADO ABOUT EVERYTHING

THEA 1331 Egging Group 6: Blake Hutto Johnny Huynh Lisa Nguyen Bao Pham

INTRODUCTION

The production of a play does not arise spontaneously, for it requires the development of various design and production elements. These essential components include the costumes worn, the set design, and the lights as well as the actions of the director. Together, they constitute an overall work that is open to viewers for interpretation, and in this way, they also act as a collective medium for individuals’ enjoyment and imagination.

Therefore, in order to investigate the significance behind each of these components, we will explore the depth of detail and thought that is dedicated to each aspect and how they are orchestrated to produce a final product for William Shakespeare’s renown work, Much About Nothing.

DIRECTOR

However, no matter how magnificent the individual qualities of a play may be, these elements are worthless if they are not organized into a cohesive and coordinated play. The director takes on the challenge of orchestrating the production by embodying the spine through the development of the directorial concept. In the case, of Much Ado About Nothing, our play of interest, the spine concerns love, marriage, and happiness, and these themes will be enunciated though the collective medium of all of the other elements of the play, including lights, costumes, and set design.

SPINE

Just as the term implies, the spine acts as the backbone of the production, as it encompasses the theme(s) and main action of the play. In this production, the spine delineates the significance of love, marriage and happiness in society as well as in the lives of individuals, as the characters of Much Ado About Nothing demonstrated.

DIRECTORIAL APPROACH

Though love, marriage, and happiness all remain prominent aspects of society today, their importance to the livelihood of individuals were still stressed more during the past than they are today. Therefore to better understand the weight of these themes, a traditional approach to directing will be adopted for this play.

SCRIPT

Given that a traditional approach will be used, the script of the play will thus closely follow the style and dialogue of Shakespeare’s original play. In this way, The audience will be granted with a more thorough understanding of the time period in which the events of the play take place (16th Century).

STYLE

The style would therefore be characteristic of allegory, as all of the characters possess distinct personalities and circumstances that represent the different facets of society, allowing members from each group to be able to sympathize with the characters. For example, even Beatrice and Benedick found greater happiness though falling in love with each other despite their initial stubbornness and resilience against the idea of marriage. This irony in the story coupled with the allegorical style of play would in turn make the themes that much more prominent in the minds of the audience.

CASTING

However, without the actors and actresses to deliver these messages, the audience will remain ignorant of the full depth behind each theme. This is especially true in the casting of Hero, as her character/personality embodies all three themes of love, happiness, and marriage, making her the ruling metaphor that conveys these messages to the audience.

Thus, the actors and actresses for this production of Much Ado About Nothing will be casted as follows:

Beatrice- Kiara Feliciano

Benedick- Kyle Downing

Hero- Susie Parr

Claudio- David Clayborn

Don Pedro-David Huynh

Don John- Kirk Ellis

Leonato- Michael Thatcher

Margaret- Sara Ornealas

Ursula- Jacquie Alberto

Borachio- Andrew Garrett

Conrad- Crash Buist

Dogberry- Billy Reed

Verges- Parke Fech

Balthasar- Thomas Adkinson

Antonio- Tom Conry

COSTUME DESIGN- ORIGIN AND EXPLANATION

• I N A D D I T I O N , G I V E N T H A T T H E L O C A T I O N O F T H E P L A Y I S I N M E S S I N A , I T A LY D U R I N G T H E 1 6 T H C E N T U R Y , T H E C O S T U M E S O F T H E A C T O R S A N D A C T R E S S E S S H O U L D R E F L E C T T H E C U LT U R E A S W E L L A S T H E T I M E P E R I O D O F T H I S E R A .

• D U R I N G T H I S T I M E P E R I O D , O N LY T H E R I C H A N D T H E N O B I L I T Y W E R E A B L E T O A F F O R D D Y E D C L O T H I N G , W H I C H I S W H Y P U R P L E A S W E L L A S A N Y O T H E R D A R K C O L O R S I N G E N E R A L W E R E S O E X C L U S I V E . T H I S I S P A R T LY D U E T O T H E F A C T T H A T T H E P R O D U C T I O N O F S U C H D A R K H U E S R E Q U I R E D M U LT I P L E D Y E S , U N L I K E T H E M O R E I N E X P E N S I V E P R I M A R Y C O L O R D Y E S T H A T A R E C H A R A C T E R I S T I C O F T H E P L E B E I A N A N D L O W E R C L A S S E S .

COSTUME DESIGN- WOMEN’S CLOTHING

• During this time period, the majority of women’s clothing and design involved long skirted dresses that varied in the cloth type, color, patterns, and layers. The majority of the clothes were tailor fitted an thus unique to each individual.

• The costumes featured in this production of Much Ado About Nothing will in turn be unique to each individual in order to reflect not only the social standing of each character but to also offer insight into their personalities.

• In addition, the colors and style of the females’ costumes will complement that of their male soul mates, delineating the significance of marriage, love, and happiness in this play.

COSTUME DESIGN- MEN’S CLOTHING

• The clothes of noblemen during this era depended on whether or not he was carrying a weapon.

• For soldiers, the clothing of choice would be thin and light. There would also be no coat to weigh you down if you were to ever engage in combat. A fashionable cape may also be worn to exude a certain degree of grandeur that some characters may possess.

COSTUME DESIGN- MALE CHARACTERS

• Benedick – His character is known for his witty comments against Beatrice, which is used as a humorous device in the play. His outfit would be that of a soldiers’ with primary colors of purple and secondary colors of green and yellow. This will give him the look of a jester as well as of a soldier but not yet a gentleman.

• Claudio – He is the “prince” for Hero. His character is that of a loyal soldier to Don Pedro yet he is too shy to try and woo Hero himself. His outfit would be that of a soldiers’ with a primary color of royal blue in addition to white as a secondary color. He would also have a red cape to distinguish himself from Benedick.

COSTUME DESIGN - MALE CHARACTERS (CONTINUED)

• Don Pedro – His character is that of a prince but more likely in his middle ages. He is a soldier and commands Claudio and Benedick, so like them, he would also sport a soldier’s uniform. His outfit would instantly delineate his standing as a man from a rich family. His costume would thus feature primary colors such as purple with a gold coat and accents of dark green.

• Don John – He is the illegitimate brother to Don Pedro. He is the main antagonist in the play. He is mostly envious of his brother’s social status even though he is of the same father. His outfit would be similar to Don Pedro except more worn to show that even though he is related to Don Pedro he is of lower rank. His costume’s primary colors would be dark blue or green with mostly red accents.

COSTUME DESIGN- FEMALE CHARACTERS

• Hero – Her character is mostly innocent, and she can be considered as the princess of the play. She is a daughter of a noble, so it can be assummed that her personality and mannerisms are very lady-like. Her outfit would be a dress long enough to cover her feet and would also include a corset to give her a desirable figure. Her costume would feature primary colors of white and blue, and would have embroidery in dark blue.

• Beatrice – Even though she was most likely raised similarly to Hero, she possesses a much more assertive personality, as demonstrated through the witty comments she exchanges with Benedick. As the niece of Leonato, her outfit would be similar to Hero’s but would incorporate different aspects such as a headdress or a veil. Her outfit’s primary colors would be green and yellow with ascents of purple embroidery.

COSTUME DESIGN- MINOR CHARACTERS

• Margaret – She is one of Hero’s serving women. Being of lower class, her outfit would be a dress similar to that of a maid but with brown as a primary color and white sleeves and apron.

• Conrad, Dogberry, and Verges – They are guards/soldiers so they would all have similar outfits with the exception of Conrad, who works with Don John. His color scheme would therefore be similar to that of Don John. As for Dogberry and Verges, they would have identical outfits since they are guards of Messina and would thus wear the sameuniform featuring the colors of their lord.

• Antonio – He is the brother to Leonato and the father of Beatrice. His outfit would be the same as Leonato’s.

• Blathasar – He is a waiting-man in Leonato’s house and is a musician. In this time period he could be probably seen as a bard. His primary color would be pale green.

• Ursula – She is one of Hero’s ladies in waiting, so her outfit would be similar to Margaret’s. However, her outfit would incorporate more of Hero’s color scheme.

SET DESIG

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SCENERY

Given that the events of the play take place in the city of Messina, Italy, also known as the door of Sicily, the stage would be set upon a Roman Catholic style building to establish the home of Leonato as the primary setting.

Columns and arcs would be set up to display the time period of the play during the 16th century.

Fake candles would be used to show the type of lighting for that time period.

The stage would probably be set upon a Thrust Theatre to allow for greater flexibility in manipulating the background. The thrust stage would therefore be very sufficient in depicting both outdoor and indoor scenes and facilitate the transition between these scenes.

SCENERY (CONTINUED)

The outdoor scenes could be viewed using lots of fake bushes and small, garden, architectural arches. A fake fountain would be placed in the middle of the garden, to simulate the sensation of being in a real garden from that time.

To create the scene for the marriage ceremony, columns and arches could be created to replicate the inside of churches with a background painting of a window picture of Jesus Christ.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

Special effects can be effective during scenes that show extreme emotions. It exaggerates the emotions and amplifies the mood of the scene.

Background music from an orchestra or perhaps visual effects are all special effects that can be used.

For this play, a replica fountain with spouting water can be used during the garden scene. Near the fountain, a specially made vine bush will also be present for the scene where Benedick and Beatrice hid to eavesdrop on their friends’ conversation.

A pit orchestra can used as special effects for each scene to incite the appropriate mood for the audience.

STYLE

Realistic or Non-realistic?

Much Ado About Nothing would be generalized as a Realistic play. The entire play could be based on actual events that Shakespeare witnessed himself and composed the entire play off it.

The set of the play would be realistic and based off of Renaissance Time during around the 16th century and would therefore adopt a more traditional style.

MOOD SETUP

Much Ado About Nothing has different mood styles. Each mood depends on how each scene is played and what mood is trying to be displayed.

Sound, lighting and visuals can guide the audience and allow the viewers to comprehend what mood is being presented.

For example, the first wedding scene would be dramatic and shocking. Thus switching from light to dark lighting would explain the situation, along with the actor’s acting.

The wedding dance near the end would also have bright lighting and cheery music to symbolize the happiness and joy of that moment.

Hero would be much more pale as a character to personify her character as a virgin in a visionary persona.

LIGHT

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REVEAL SHAPES AND FORMS AND FOCUS AND COMPOSITION

Depending on where you put the lights, you can make objects appear either three-dimensional or two-dimensional.

Also, the focus is a very important part of the lighting as it directs where the audience’s attention will be. The figure below demonstrates how a spot light can be used. For the purpose of this play, a spotlight will be utilized similarly in order to better elucidate the facial expressions of the characters and provide shadowing, which is especially important during the scenes involving great emotion and dramatization. This would include Claudio’s public humiliation of Hero at their first wedding ceremony among other scenes.

ASSIST IN CREATING MOOD AND REINFORCING STYLE

Lighting can really help set the mood that people are feeling and reinforce the style as well as establish contrast.

For most of this play, the stage will be lit with normal, warm, and bright color lights to show a happy comedy where the main characters fall in love and get married (shown on left).

However for more serious scenes, darker, more macabre lights will be used. Examples of such scenes include the time after Claudio rejects Hero at the wedding, accusing her of infidelity, as well as the time of darkness when Hero is supposedly “dead”(shown on right).

ESTABLISH TIME, PLACE AND RHYTHM

By manipulating its color, shade, and intensity, lighting can suggest time, place, and rhythm. For example the morning, evening, and sunset and will all have different kinds of lighting. Lighting can easily help establish what season and time of day during which the events of the play are occurring.

Reinforce the Central Visual Image and Establish Visual Information

The wrong lighting can distort and destroy a play. The light designer is the person who will show the audience where to focus. This person can break a play if he makes the audience focus on the wrong things.

Theme: Love

The theme of love in Much Ado About Nothing can be shown through the lighting. For example, suggestive colors such as red and pink and also very bright lights can help enunciate this theme during the appropriate scenes.

Theme: Marriage

The theme of marriage in Much Ado About Nothing can be shown through lighting. Marriage is a very special time for two people. Lighting can show the importance of these two people by having the spot lights on them. It is also a time for purity which is resembled by white, and there could thus be a lot of white lights and candles.

Theme: Happiness

The theme of happiness in Much Ado About Nothing can also be shown through lighting. Happiness is a time for smiling and brightness. You can bring attention to the characters’ smiles and elated facial expressions via the use of bright and warm colors with lighting.

CONCLUSION

It can be easy to forget the degree of complexity and work that goes into the development of a play. However, knowing of each of these individual elements grants a greater sense of appreciation for a given production as well as enriches the individual theater experience, as this rendition of Much Ado About Nothing has demonstrated.