If I were to stage this play, my concept would be fairy tale/puzzle. Being a mystery play that’s why I chose a puzzle concept. It’s a simplistic image of finding the truth or full picture. With the fairy tale side, that would pertain mostly to the reenactments of Katurian’s stories. Instead of having the stories be as dark as they are perceived, I wanted to lighten it up a little more but still have that same feeling of shock.
The video towards the right demonstrates how I want the audience to react every time Katurian's short story is over. I want that innocent feel at the beginning with the gory twist at the end. I think the short stories should follow this formula where there's the same level of intensity then out of nowhere you're left shocked. | WARNING: Video contains graphic and violent images. Beware. |
Stage: With the stage, I envision a fairly small space that’s very intimate. I would like it to be a thrust stage so that the audience can view it from different angles and leave the performance with different experiences. I would have a metal table center stage with a single chair behind it. I would also have one practical light fixture that flickers whenever there’s a death scene or violence.
The backdrop would be a projector screen. The projector would be lighting it from the back during the reenactments of Katurian’s stories. It would also serve as a visual aid when he’s summarizing his stories to the detectives or Michal.
Color: The colors for the interrogation room would be dark. They would be grey and sage green. I’d have very little, low intensity white light. For some of the interrogation scenes have an accent of red. I would like to work a lot in shadows to keep that mysterious feel. I would have a puzzle gobo to shine on the floor but have it be very soft. I don’t want it to be very obvious. For the reenactments of the stories and the projector, I want bright colors. I want it to almost seem surreal and that the audience is in an innocent world.
Sound: For sound I would have light-hearted fairy tale music. I want the music to be soft and light. This would pertain to the short stories. With the interrogation scenes, I would have cold, dark music. Maybe some wind blowing and dripping water. I want an intense dark song to be playing right before the show starts. The song is about a child wondering who is murdering her. In the song she wonders where some of her body parts are. I believe this fits due to the child deaths and body parts. It has that dark style the play has and has a common place with the plot about the child murders.
Costumes: For Katurian, I would have him be wearing a light colored shirt. Probably a light colored shirt so that during the violent scenes the blood is easier seen. Michal would wear jeans and a long sleeve button up shirt. All the buttons would be buttoned and his hair would be messy. Tupolski would wear a brown jacket with black slacks, nice shoes and slicked back hair. Ariel would be wearing more casual clothes. Jeans and a tight shirt. I want Ariel to be more physically built than Tupolski.
768503_SOUNDDOGS__to.mp3
