In our first production meeting Set Designer, Heather Fipps, pitched a really lovely idea of using flats and screens for the various slides I use in One Drop. In the center would be a sexless face based on the different characters that morphs as I change from one to the next. We would also have two screens on either side for the informational text and graphic slides. In the end, though, we decided not to use the face and instead will only have the slides on one screen in upstage center. Jillian and I thought the face might end up being a distraction for the audience - and we didn’t want them to have to switch back & forth from one side to the other to get information from the slides. The next hurdle was getting one screen that would be big enough to project the images and slides. The school doesn’t have one that suits our needs, so this will be my first major purchase for the show. I’m getting a 7′x10′ screen that can be projected both from the rear and front.
Next I had to think about lights. I had no idea how to speak to Morgan, our Lighting Designer, about how the show should be lit - having never been in a position of thinking of the overall visual look of a show! My Director Jillian suggested I comb through the script for tone. I sent Morgan a list of ideas and character descriptions like, ‘He’s generally warm, but in this moment should feel technical and cold.’ I thought about which characters would be represented by amber, red and blue and sent that along as well. To my amazement he understood what I wrote!
Monday, March 4 we put all of this together for the start of our Tech rehearsals. I know I have a really talented team behind me - and although there are often tears and anxiety during Tech week, I’m confident that this one is going to go smoothly.
