DESIGN

Lighting

When I was light designing the show, it became clear to me that there were three distinct light languages I was playing with. The first was whenever we were in the home of the Fates. The second was whenever there was a choral ode and the performers re-arranged the set. The third was whenever we were in a tragic scene with any of the six tragic women and the ensemble characters.

Outside of those three languages, there were a few lighting cues based on the specifics of the scene. For example, whenever the visions tormented Kassandra, the lights would turn red to signify her suffering and their aggression. I also used specials with Iphigenia's death and Helen's final goodbye to highlight the stark emotions the characters express in their monologues. Furthermore, I used blue light throughout the show to signify nighttime as well as the death of Klytemnestra.

Next time, I want to explore more unique lighting cues throughout the play to highlight high-emotion moments. This time, I kept it relatively simple with the three basic light languages and only a couple of unique cues. I think there are places where utilising the lighting more would elevate the piece and make the scenes more interesting.

Fates' Home (FH)

I used battery-powered tea lights as part of the set, wanting to make the Fates' home feel ambient and cozy. I continued this idea into the lighting design, using orange-red light to mimic fire light. I also only used one light for front light, giving the set a dim, cozy feeling.

Choral Ode (CH O)

For the choral odes, I wanted to create a transitionary/other-worldly feeling. I did this by eliminating all front light and relying on backlight to create interesting silhouettes of the performers. I also used blue light to make it feel as though we had entered another dimension as the Fates built the world we'd enter during the tragic scenes.

Tragic Scene (TS)

I wanted the tragic scenes to feel stark and bright in comparison to the homey-feeling of the Fates' home. I used a cold wash for front light, and used all of the front lights available to light the stage. I did not use any coloured lights during the tragic scenes except for special instances, such as nighttime, the Visions tormenting Kassandra, and character deaths. I wanted the colour to make an impact whenever it was used during tragic scenes, so I made sure to use it sparingly and purposefully.

Sound

I didn't use any sound cues during the show itself because I wanted the sounds to come from the performers. The original idea was to have the performers humming and making sounds throughout the performance, particularly during choral odes and other transitionary times. However, due to actor availability, we didn't have enough time to properly add in the humming without hurting the rest of the performance. Instead, we picked three moments during the show that needed something to fill the silence (for example, transitions without a choral ode attached to them).

While I stand by that decision to reduce the amount of humming, I am incredibly disappointed that we couldn't implement it throughout the piece. Part of what made it so hard to add is the way the script was written during choral odes. The performers traded off every line, which in theory was very cool, but in practice proved to be quite difficult. I couldn't add the performers humming on top of trying to remember their line and their cue line and the set change in the amount of time we had to rehearse. This is something I fixed in the next version of the script for our run at the Lambeth Fringe by making only one Fate speak during each choral ode so that the other two can hum.

I would also like to play with adding ambient soundscapes to the piece, such as wave sounds when they're at the beach or bird noises when they're in the garden. Sound is a skill I'm still working to strengthen, and I would love the opportunity to play with various sound effects throughout the piece. One day, when I can afford to, I'd love to hire a sound technician who can create a proper soundscape for the show.

Good Girls - Josie Edwards - Youtube Link

House Music

For the house music, I used only female artists because of my goal of making a women-centered production. It was important to me to use songs that dealt with the theme of female rage because of the significance of that theme in the play. I used the following artists because their songs deal with female rage in one form or another: Olivia Rodrigo, Alanis Morissette, Dazey and the Scouts, Ash Tuesday, Hemlocke Springs, El Tigre, and Mommy Long Legs.

Curtain Call - Good Girls by Josie Edwards

I used the song Good Girls by Josie Edwards as the curtain call song because the sound of it fit with the surreal, lyrical vibe of the show and because it's a song that deals with female rage. It was a perfect fit for the show, and I plan to keep it as our curtain call song for the time being.

Costumes

Red Satin Dress

At first, I wanted the Fates to wear a navy blue dress because their mother is Nyx, goddess of the night, and because of the blue strings they discover. It dawned on me, however, that having the Fates wear blue would be in direct opposition to the idea that everything they weave is red. I wanted to make it abundantly clear to the audience that Fates = red, thus the blue string is abnormal. So, I decided to have the actors wear red. I picked a satin dress because I liked how satin felt both youthful and mature at the same time, fitting how the performers play both young and old characters. It also feels sultry, which to me feels very divine. I could believe that goddesses as old and powerful as the Fates would wear something as comfortable yet beautiful as silk.

Red Hoods

*The cross necklace pictured was not used in the final performance.

I knew I needed something to help differentiate when the performers were the Fates versus any other character. I came up with the idea of the hoods because it felt like an easy and clear distinguisher - when the hoods were up, they were the Fates, and when they were down, they were not. The hoods proved to be quite tricky to work with as they kept slipping off of the heads of the performers. We tried a few different things, such as bobby pins and even those non-slip silicone patches for the heels of shoes. Nothing worked, until my Assistant Director, May Jolly Brennan, had the genius idea of sewing small combs into the top of the hoods. That way, the actors could simply slide the comb in and out of their hair (which were done in braids) whenever they needed to take the hood on or off. This worked wonders, and while it's not perfect, we are working to make it as seamless as possible.

Props

While the hoods were great for signifying the Fates, there were still six tragic characters that needed a way to be differentiated as well. I decided to choose a small character piece for each tragic woman to signify who the performer is currently portraying. These six character pieces were then rigged from the lighting rig for the actors to grab and hang up as needed.

Klytemnestra and Helen have crowns because of they are Queens. I also wanted them to parallel each other because they're sisters.

Klytemnestra's crown is black, to represent her dark need for vengeance, and Helen's crown is gold to represent her beauty.

Elektra has golden cuffs that she wears around her wrist because of how she feels chained to her home and family.

Khrysothemis has a pearl choker because of the hold her mother has on her and her role as the next queen of Mycenae.

Iphigenia has a white shawl that doubled as her wedding veil during her death scene.

Kassandra has a brown shawl to imply the lowly standing she has ever since she was cursed with her visions.

Klytemnestra's Crown

Elektra's Cuffs

Helen's Crown

Iphigenia's Shawl

Khrysothemis's Necklace

Kassandra's Shawl

Set

Red Scraps & Tea Candles

I wanted to create a physical barrier between the audience and the performers as part of the set to create the home of the Fates. I chose red scraps of fabric as the material for the perimeter. My Assistant Director and I went to multiple thrift stores and bought almost all of the red clothing they had. We used different shades of red and textures of clothing to create a diverse array of fabric that was visually interesting. We then spent multiple weeks cutting the clothes into strips. For the show, we laid the scraps of fabric around the three edges where the audience sat to create that perimeter between them and the performers.

I also wanted tea lights to line the perimeter to create an ambient, cozy feeling to the Fates' home. The actors turned these tea lights on during their entrance blocking. I used toilet paper tubes that I painted white to elongate the tea lights so they stood up a bit higher and to mark where the on switch was for the actors.

Theatre Blocks

The only set pieces we had were four theatre blocks that were arranged in various configurations throughout the piece. There were a total of 14 different configurations that the performers had to create with the blocks, representing anything from thrones to rocks to creeks and everything in between. The performers would rearrange them during choral odes as we transitioned from the home of the Fates to tragic scenes.

My diagrams ended up being slightly off from what the actual space looked like, so in the future I want to be more precise with my measuring and diagrams so as to properly utilise the space.

Rigging

The technicians rigged the six character pieces from the light rig so that they hung down on the edges of the stage area. This created a very cool visual as it appeared that the pieces were floating via the power of the Fates. I used slip knots at the end of each rigged line so that the actors could easily hang and tighten their pieces so that they wouldn't fall.