Reading Response: Richard Foreman as Scenographer

Richard Foreman is a man that envisions a symbiosis amongst the several elements of a piece that he can translate through his designs. Critiques and patrons of theater have considered his work a mixture of surrealism, dada, futurism, heavily emphasized through symbolism. He envisions a set where the authors mind is morphed by the elements encompassing the stage. His designs express simplicity without using cliche models. Foreman likes to use frames to express the film reel like lives we see everyday. Those mind frames of thought he wishes to express are done by creating a space on stage expressing layers. These layers represent the complexities of everyday life.

Foreman takes a script for what it is and tries to personify its themes and conflicts with not only the actors and props but what those props do to leave an impression on the audience. He mentions the space between the stage and the 4th wall; he wishes to create an ever changing environment that can somehow mesh the show into the audience's reality. His use of string on stage shows how the layers interconnect and create the connections between every aspect of the stage. His "why not" methods show his Dada influence and how it turns the stage into a representation of the thought processes of the mind.


Perspective is also a huge influence in Foreman's designs; he likes to use the space to highlight scenes that express the perspective characters have on stage. Ultimately, Foreman wishes to have a space the could conform to his current mind set. His attention to aesthetics is shown by the materials like Plexiglas, string, colors, in his productions. The props he uses stir up and energy that creates a pull on the audience; to direct their gaze of the stage in line with the events unfolding the play. That energy is his goal to mediate. Not only does this enhance the affects of the play on the audience, but appeals to the audiences eye; an accomplishment that keeps the audience focused throughout the entire show.

Jorge Luis Borges "Poets Creed"

- One reads what one likes, and one writes, not what one would like, but what one is able to write.

- In reading we seem to have the ability to transcend and to stretch beyond ourselves. In writing it seems that we are limited by our own talents, and experiences.

- Borges remembers back to his father's library and recalls stories not by there actual content, but how they made him feel.

- One of Borges definitions of humanity is that to be human is to live in the past and the future, to know a time before one is born, and a time that occurs after ones death.

- Another definition of humanity seems to be able to see yourself, face to face, and know. Perhaps an ecstatic truth, one that gives illumination?

- As a poet, Borges favors being the reader. It seems easier and in my opinion it is. The writing part, and which is a part of Borges Creed is that writing is troublesome and painful.

- "I suppose young men are found of unhappiness, they do their best to be unhappy, and they generally achieve it." A great quote, and it is very clear inside this classroom.

- In poetry everything is feeling.

- To repeat the last two lines of a play or poem, gives the second repeated line more weight. There is a thickening of meaning.

- The mistake that free verse is easier than structure. When, structure actually frees you by making your job easier. You just plug in your ideas into a form. In free verse you must construct everything from scratch.

- The art of hiding and writing as others do, pretending to write in an old "style"

- Borges finds that we are all contemporary. Because, we all exist now. You cannot get away from it.

- "What does being a writer mean to me? It means being true to my imagination."

- Stories as dreams or ideas, not factual re-accounts. Facts are just a web of accidents and circumstances.

- Be loyal to the dream not the circumstance.

- Poetry can harbor laziness, or idle writers. It's easier to hint at something than to write a novel about it.

- Finally he state that he has not real creed and that he only has a few precautions and misgivings.

Reading Notes

Update on the reading notes. So far we've posted 5 different readings, so we've got 5 left guys. Reply in the comments which reading you want to work on if you haven't posted one yet.

Reading Notes that are done:
"Behind the Screen Door" - Jimmy
"World on Stage" - Allie & Keith
"Can Theater and Media Speak the Same Language?" - Kira & Keith
"Directors and Designers is there a Different Direction" - Nate
"The Stage as Dangerous machine" - Allie

Reading's not done:
"The Metaphor"
"Poet's Creed"
"Richard Foreman as a Sceneographer"
"Scenography as a Machine"
"Use of Mettapatterns"

Directors and Designers is there a Different Direction: Notes by Nate

There is often tension between directors and designers during a production. Many directors are seen as the head of a production but in reality they are the head of only half. As described in Directors and Designers is there a Different Direction designers often have to take the role of a 'wife' figure, having to word questions to the likes of "how do YOU think this would look?" in order to gain a response from directors who have the innate need to be in charge of every aspect of a production.
The year 1911 in Germany was a great year for theater. For the first time plays were mixed in with music costumes and intricate colorful sets that were designed for specialists. However, also stemming from this breakthrough was the commonly notion that the designers served the directors. But in 1988 this issue was addressed by The Society of British Theatre Designers as they stepped forward to announce that a change in the artistic collaboration between director and designer must change.
Pamela Howard calls for this change in her article stating that designers should become "architects of the space and the space itself becomes a major player in the production. This is becoming a reality as many designers are becoming just as well recognized as directors and with the new technology available to theaters for creating outstanding sets, this trend can only increase.

-Nate Murphy

LIVE DESIGN - Pilobolus

Here are some live designs by an amazing dance troupe i studied last year. They are called Pilobolus. They have done numerous shadow art designs, and the videos speak for themselves; they're just amazing!

The Stage is a Dangerous Machine: the Designs of George Tyspin

The theater can be dangerous aesthetically as well as practically. George Tyspin, classically trained in architecture in Moscow and then as a designer at New York University, is among one of the foremost modern designers.
Style:
- Steel is Tyspin’s favorite material for it’s “sleek beauty and strength”, it is used in many of his designs and sculptures.
-“I’m not interested in periods; I feel incredible freedom. I was never indoctrinated in the sense of ‘this is from this period and that is from that period’. I have total freedom t use whatever I like.” This freedom is most often connected with the postmodern movement, with historical and contemporary elements juxtaposed together.
-Tyspin insists that his approach is organic, “I’m more interested in the essence of things, the textures, the shapes, the space, the historical elements as long as they serve the meaning”
-Influenced by David Mitchell, in his ease with mechanical transformations.
-employs the vertical to achieve a “spiritual dimension” as well as adding additional focal points.
-Islamic architecture in how it makes an understanding of how a building is put together impossible, as well as how it seems to melt into the air.

Shows:
1)The Screens by Genet.
- Created a sand y dessert of stage
-Tyspin designed a net that hangs above the stage to represent the land of the dead. He called in a German engineering firm to help design the net to hold up to 40 bodies as well as appear light and airy.
2)The Electrification of the Soviet Union
-set inside of a train car that was flexible
-his work on this set exemplifies his collaborative nature where he and director Peter Sellers formed the idea of the malleable train car.
3)The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez
-this was the first film that Tyspin worked on, it was a remake.
-the original had been black and white and tyspin wanted to carry that feeling by having intense colors. “to really go to essentials in color where every color becomes a state of mind”
-Played with the loneliness of new york “whatever is not onstage is just as important as what is”

4)The Ring of the Nibelungs - Wagner
- In this design Tyspin wanted to design with all the elements, and create a space where “the audience and the stage were intertwined”
-“the first note of the opera sounds in the darkness, and then there was an explosion of glass and metal. The platforms begin moving and action immediately becomes spatial”
-The design for this set took over the Netherlands Opera, with set changes waiting in the lobby and coming out into the street.

Sculptures:
-Tyspin has held gallery shows for his sculptures
-They are created after the show has been designed and act as monuments to the shows.
-They are not quite stage models, but more conceptual of how Tyspin would have designed in an ideal world with no limitations of floor space for actors.
-These monuments set Tyspin apart from almost all other American designers who keep almost no record of their work and just design shows back to back. Tyspin remain the artist instead of making a career out of designing.

The Danger:
-in later years, Tyspin did very little work in the United States as his designs were too dangerous.
-His design for War and Peace had been performed in many other cities without fault, it wasn’t until New York did a mishap occur. But Tyspin felt the sage itself was safe but that “there was something getting into people’s subconscious. There was a perceived danger in the design.”
-Tyspin is dismayed at all the new safety regulations on what he can and can not do in the theater space.

Visiting the Web

I visited the web today to add my origami. Since the cocoons did not get made I made my own version. Using the class syllabus I fold it into what is called an origami ballon. I pinned them to the web to look like cocoons. I liken the paper to the thread that holds our class together, and what is cocooned is our ideas and thoughts. Below you will also find a video of how I folded the paper. Enjoy.

Readings

So I was looking through all the old posts to see what readings have and have not been done.

Reading Notes that are done:
"Behind the Screen Door"
"World on Stage"
"Can Theater and Media Speak the Same Language?"

Reading's not done:
"Poet's Creed"
"Directors and Designers is there a Different Direction"
"Metaphor"
"The Stage as Dangerous machine"
"Richard Foreman as a Sceneographer"
"Stage as a Machine"


"world on stage" and "can theater and media speak..." were both done twice.

-Angus

Recap

Hi all,

Great work everyone, on the Stage Design presentation. We kicked major ass, we should all be proud of our hard work. Now it's time to present our Environmental Design. It's some how strange since this is the thing we started out with. Well now is the time to show it off.

If you are curious and aren't apart of our group, now is the time to go see the Right Angles' Web Of Ideas. You can follow this handy map!

Right Anglers', remember we will also meet 45 minutes before class on Thursday to discuss our presentation style. We will also touch on our live design project so be prepared to talk about that and think of a time to actually rehearse it.

As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Cheers,
Brian

YAY!

OK so I'm here with Brian and we're ready! lets go right angles! this shit looks so good, i can see it coming alive on stage with the music and the costumes!

k.shaw