KING STAG
SCENIC DESIGNER - ELDRED THEATER - SENIOR CAPSTONE
The King Stag takes place both in the Castle of the King and in the fantastical Forest. The concept of the show relied around a juxtaposition of the fantastical elements and increasing the audience’s awareness that they are seeing a show.
Director: Jeffery Ullom | Costume Designer: Angelina Herin | Lighting Designer: Jill Davis
Photos courtesy of Steve Wagner
Design Process: Wood/Trees
Initially an idea to marry the ideas of interior columns and forest trees, between budget and restrictions put in place later in the process, they became attached to the platform and lost their freedom of movement, but still served to bridge the gap between inside and out.
The initial design inspiration came from the beams in viking huts and ships.
Vines on burlap were added during scenes that took place in the woods.
Design Process:
Podium and Bust
One of the characters in The King Stag is a talking bust that advises the king. Once he has no use for it, and as a display of his love, he smashes it on the ground. The podium serves as a place to hide the actor.
After a few prototypes, we settled on using pre-made wig heads and cutting them apart, plastering them so they would make the correct sound, and lightly gluing them back together so they would ‘shatter’ when thrown down.
Design Process: Arches
Initially meant to be wood to match the rest of the set, production asked for them to become a painted drop. Then meant to be fully cut-out and held together with thin mesh, these arches had to be painted black on their tops to emulate emptiness.
These served as the far backdrop for the show, and since they could not be removed for the woods scene, arches were incorporated between the ‘tree’ pillars too.