Technical Theatre & Design: Frankenstein (A Study)

Note: All photos are click to enlarge for closer viewing.

A Study of Design

Since my days in middle school, theatre has been both a combination of acting and technical theatre. I have been a student and practitioner of both aspects of theatre and found joy and passion in both. Building sets with my parents during summer break for our community theatre, picking and designing costumes for my characters, and learning to apply makeup and focus lighting instruments have all been part of my background and love of theatre.

When discussing technical theatre and design in my career there are many examples that bring me pride and are worth showing and discussing. I have decided rather than to do a wide view of my technical theatre experience (See my ARTISTIC RESUME) to do a study into the design and implementation for a specific show.

I have chosen my thesis production of Frankenstein. This production is near and dear to my heart and holds a special place in my resume as being one of my favorite designs. For this production I served as Director, Technical Director and Producer. Part of my thesis project was a deep dive into the technical production and design of all aspects of the show including: lighting, sound, costumes, makeup, and set.

I hope you enjoy a deep dive into my mind and the process of by which my designs are created and brought to life.

Part 1: The Beginning

For the production of Frankenstein I worked through my design beginning where I always do, with the script. From these readings I was able to feel where I wanted to take the production as far as design and the mood/feeling I was going for in the overall production. I often look for inspiration in the search of images through the mood and descriptive words I write down when I read a text. From this I was able to work towards a project designing a media presentation from my inspiration.

Part 2: Teaser Trailer

Note: Best experienced with headphones or in a quiet room.

This project began as a simple assignment in my final year at Roosevelt University. We were tasked with assembling “inspiration” media for our masters thesis production. I collected a number of images which I felt evoked the spirit of my production, Frankenstein. These included electrical paraphernalia, anatomic or scientific illustrations, and various settings in the play from lush green forests to desolate Arctic wastelands.

As I slingshotted out of my final summer in the Masters in Directing program, I immediately got to work on Frankenstein which was scheduled to premiere in November of that same year. As part of the marketing campaign for the show and to gin up excitement in the school and community for the fall play, I wanted a “teaser trailer” to post on social media, and used various inspiration images from my laboratory exercise as a jumping off point.

With the help of my Production Assistant I decided to assemble a trailer that was set from the Creature’s point of view, without ever seeing it. The viewer gets to watch through the Creature's eyes as it comes to life and traverses the forests, lakes, mountains, and finally frozen arctic that would have been all it knew in its life. I intentionally kept the emphasis off literal depictions of the Creature itself because its final look was still in flux and I wanted that to be a surprise, but also because I thought that would detract from the greater feelings of isolation I wanted the play to evoke. My production of Frankenstein was less about blood and gore and much more about the human condition, and I wanted the marketing to reflect that.

We collaborated over three days and the project came together quickly. We began by cutting up a few of the songs I already planned to use for the soundtrack of Frankenstein using Adobe Audition. I mixed them down into a three minute .MP3 and we then went searching for footage and found most of what was eventually included on YouTube or Vimeo. I downloaded various clips and we edited them together using iMovie. The footage was heavily altered, with a significant amount of color temperature, cropping, saturation, speed, and other adjustments being made.

I paid special attention to the opening of the teaser trailer, playing with light, dark, and using the subtle heartbeat soundtrack as a guide. The interspersed electric blasts accompanied with white flashes were used to to signify that the Creature was slowly coming to life and opening its eyes for the first time, along with red blood cells beginning to race through a vein, and an eye with the reflection of a Tesla coil in it. We are then taken on a journey with the Creature as it wanders the forest and encounters indifferent wildlife, slowly learning and growing as the world comes more into focus. Midway through we see flames and a wash of red to signify the burning of De Lacey’s cottage, William’s strangulation, and the Creature’s travels to the Frankenstein home on the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland, with mountains where he meets Victor in the background. Finally, the video ends with an endless march over the frozen terrain just as the Creature and Victor are cursed to in the play, with a glimpse of the famous Michelangelo fresco “The Creation of Adam” hinting at the significant amount of biblical allegory in the Frankenstein story. The teaser trailer ends on a flash of white, in contrast to the darkness at the beginning.

The teaser trailer was well received by both students and the community and helped set the tone for what sort of play the audience should anticipate since expectations when most people hear “Frankenstein” can vary wildly. While there’s certainly a few things I might do differently in retrospect, it more than served its purpose at the time.

Part 3: Periaktoi

Heading into fall of 2014 I began searching for the scenic concept for Frankenstein. For years I had been collecting images that spoke to a certain aesthetic I had not attempted prior. I knew I wanted the scenery to be abstract, simple, and to change organically throughout the show. I was attracted to architecture and scenic designs that were fundamentally Brutalist — geometric, unadorned, repetitive, and modern. I wanted the scenery to feel engineered and manufactured, in stark juxtaposition to the anatomically correct Creature effects and period-appropriate costumes seen throughout the show.

Frankenstein is a play with many interior and exterior settings, not to mention different seasons and locations in all corners of the globe. In addition to the sprawling story, the physical space this play would inhabit was a classic Beaux-Arts stage originally designed with vaudeville in mind, featuring a massive 70’ proscenium and only 24’ of depth, no wing space, and a capacity of almost 3,000. Suffice it to say, the scenery could not be dainty.

A lightbulb (no pun intended) went on when I revisited images of oscilloscopes collected as part of my research. I was particularly inspired by the changing waveforms and triangle shapes they created. I began rough-sketching ideas immediately and settled on my own remix of the classic Theatre scenery tool: the periaktos. I considered this to be a respectful nod to Theatre’s past, but with a modern twist, and I was thrilled with the possibilities it opened up for this production in particular.

Instead of flat tops as is tradition, my periaktoi would feature pitched roofs and come in four different heights, 10’, 12’, 14’, and 16’ to further play up the electronic inspiration and also give the production more geographic diversity. They would also feature handles so that actors could not just rotate them 360˚ in place, but pilot them around the stage throughout the show in any direction during transitions, arranging them into changing formations for different scenes and settings. Lastly, I wanted them painted a flat grey which further played up the Brutalist angle and had the added benefit of taking lighting and texture very well.

I settled on eighteen as the magic number required to both populate the large performance space and fulfill the scenic demands of the production. I saw my periaktoi as products to be mass produced, so the first step was the construction of a prototype. We started with one of the biggest at 16’ and construction began in earnest in early October of 2014 with the prototype being completed on October 11th. The internal structure was made of 2” x 4” lumber and the exterior was 1/2” sanded plywood. Each side was 4’ wide and handles were measured and cut at the same height and placement on each. The bottom framing was inset a few inches to allow for large casters in each of the three corners so turning and movement would be smooth and stable. Once we learned our lessons from the prototype and perfected our methods, the remaining seventeen periaktoi went relatively quickly by comparison. We sanded the edges and corners of each and used joint compound to fill in the gaps to create as seamless a shape as possible before painting.

The next step was deciding on formations that would signify settings throughout the show. I made a paper model to speed up the process and help the cast and crew to visualize and buy-in to the concept. Once the formations were finalized they were marked on stage with spike tape in corresponding colors with an additional mark on a corner signaling to the actor or crew member which direction to point the highest corner of their periaktos. We rehearsed these formations for weeks timing them and getting the transitions down to a much brisker pace than I ever envisioned. The final effect on stage was compared to a “ballet” by some audience members as you watched one scene split apart and another form in its place on stage.

Given the demands of the production and challenges of the space, I’m proud of what I was able to achieve with this scenic design. Putting my own twist on a possibly ancient Theatre tool was one of my proudest technical moments to date and delighted cast, crew, and audience alike making the concept feel fresh and new. I challenged myself by attempting something for the first time and showing the restraint required to stand behind such a deceptively simple concept. It was everything I wished for and more in my scenic desires stated as the outset, and proved incredibly adept at creating warm intimacy when need be or making the world of Frankenstein feel widescreen and airy. Certain placements were used at various times to signify vaulted timber ceilings of interior spaces, trees and forests, sharp peaks of mountains and shorn off icebergs, or the stage opened up to create threateningly vulnerable environments with no place to hide. My actors, technicians, and I learned plenty of lessons along the way and I got a lot of new ideas I have stowed away which I hope to have the opportunity to explore further someday.

To think that all this was inspired by electrical waveforms adds a final touch that feels apropos of the spirit of the production as a whole, and — I hope — the kind of lightning bolt of inspiration even Victor Frankenstein would be proud of.

Please see below for a collection of additional images from set building (click to enlarge) or check out my FRANKENSTEIN gallery for more photos from the show.

Part 4: Costumes and Makeup for The Creature

The costume and makeup design for The Creature was an interesting study in character. For the costumes and and makeup in this show I decided to stay within the appropriate time period and stayed as authentic as possible.

For the makeup of The Creature I looked images and videos of previous productions and films of this classic character and there were many variations of this man pieced together from cadaver parts. I believed that the makeup would have to be bold and visible from thirty to fifty feet away for the audience. I wanted The Creature to feel bruised, bloodied, and a patchwork of a man traveling through the world learning to be whole. In working with a makeup artist I showed them the designs, drawings, and images that I liked and we worked closely with one another on how to make these images come to life. The designer worked with the actor playing The Creature directly for several weeks testing and practicing and editing the design with me.

The final product was brilliant and expressed the view of the character I had in my mind. The audience was able to see the scaring and injuries placed on the character and the emotional response was felt, as well.

For the costumes, as stated above, I kept the designs based on the time period of the novel and stayed as realistic as possible. The costumes were rented from Oregon Shakespeare Theatre and each piece was selected by myself. In working with The Creature’s costumes I developed the idea of using the costumes to show The Creature’s growth from “infant” to adult through the play. The Creature starts out naked or barely clothed coming out of the “womb” and more clothing is added as the show progresses and The Creature learns and develops.

Please see my FRANKENSTEIN gallery for more photos of costumes and makeup for all the other characters in the show.