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Navigating in production
This material has been prepared by Stewart
McGowan, Hunter School of the Performing Arts.
Set, lighting and poster design
In July 2001, Newcastle Repertory Theatre
performed Navigating by Katherine Thomson.
The set design was by Graham Wilson
The lighting design was by Russell
Jones
Background
Newcastle Repertory Theatre Company is an
amateur company that has been operating for over forty-five
years. Their theatre in Newcastle seats 110. The stage is
approximately seven metres wide and five metres deep.
A professional artist, Graham Wilson, designed
the set and poster. Year 12 student, Russell Jones (now studying
at NIDA) designed the lights.
Look at the three photographs of the set
below.
Click on each image to see the full size version
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Photo 1
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Photo 2
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Photo 3
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Like many theatre companies, Repertory has to
work with limited stage space and does not have the facility to
change scenery quickly. This production used the one set to
represent all the locations of the play.
Elements of design
- The jetties:
Jetties are a feature of many coastal waterways, and Graham Wilson has made them a major part of this design. One of the jetty pieces slopes: this suggests it is unstable, about to collapse. Fay Sharp, the director of the play, often positioned Bea on this jetty. It helped emphasise how precarious Bea’s situation in Dunbar is. Russell Jones created a water effect underneath the jetty to further show how risky Bea’s position is.
The other jetty was used for several scenes. In particular, most of the office scenes were played on this jetty.
- The prison on the hill:
This has been very simply constructed from a sheet of MDF (a type of craft wood), then lit from below so it throws a large shadow on the back wall.
- The ghostly figures:
These are also simply constructed – they are cut-out figures lit from behind. This is a very clever design element because it is used to suggest two things. In the opening scene the shadows suggest the rest of the choir. At other times, they suggest the drowned children – they are shadows of the past.
- The curtain:
This curtain could be pulled to one side. It allowed for entries to be made on this side of the stage. The figurehead was kept on this side of the stage and brought on as needed. (In a clever piece of direction in this production, Bea leaned against the figurehead during the shotgun scene.)
- Colour:
Graham chose to use a very saturated red for this production. It would normally be a colour that would threaten to overpower the action of the stage, but because of the nature of this play it helped add an emotional intensity.
- Entrances:
It is possible for actors to enter the stage from a number of points. The practical purpose of this is that it helps establish the different locations. It also gives the set a maze-like quality. The director again used this effectively. For example, an unseen Darcy observed Isola and Ian from the upstage arch during Act 1.
Activity
Look at the poster design for this
production.
Click on the image to see the full size version
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What elements of the play are incorporated into
this poster design?