The Seven Acts of Mercy
My third project was to design and create a model box of a set for the play 'The Seven Acts of Mercy' by Anders Lustgarten. The play alternates between two different locations and time periods, early 17th century Naples and 21st century Merseyside, so it was challenging to be able to create two contrasting locations on stage. This was a speculative design and we were designing the set as if it were to be staged in the Waverley Theatre at Nottingham Trent University. we also had to consider what the characters in the show would wear as well as researching the two different locations.
This project helped me understand the process of designing set for a show and the importance of really understanding the material that you are working with.
This also gave me the experience of working with a director, Siobhan Canon-Brownlie, who talked about the process of a director in a theatre show and gave very useful advice to me about the practicalities when designing a set, such as audience sightlines and set transitions.
Construct the Moment Project
My fourth project was to, using the set designs from 'The Seven Acts of Mercy' design project, in small groups, design and create a model box and AutoCAD drawings of a section of a set for 'The Seven Acts of Mercy' based on bits of set designs from members of each group. We were then going to construct the design and have it displayed in the Waverley Theatre at Nottingham Trent University. However, due to the coronavirus and lock down the construction of our designs could not happen.
During the design process, each member of the group had a different task, I was one of the AutoCAD draughtspeople. Overall, I enjoyed working on the AutoCAD because it allowed me to improve my technical skills and work on an area of the process that can be highly valued by the set construction and scenic art teams.
We also had scenic artist, from Rocket Scenery in Nottingham, Sarah Richard come in to help advise us on our set for our construct the moment pieces and show us some techniques to create different patterns and textures.
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