THTR/DES 087: Introduction to the process of creating integrated designs in theatre production. The study and practice of the principles of visual representation, historical and conceptual research and the study of theatrical styles.
Our introduction to the medium, both of theatrical storytelling and of pencil-on-paper, was to make a storyboard – drawn in pencil, charcoal and conté crayon – based off Robert Frost’s “Birches”
Cloud Tectonics
José Rivera blends magical realism with a literally timeless love story between everyman Anibal de la Luna and the mysteriously angelic Celestina del Sol. As they bond, it becomes clear that Celestina exists outside of time. They fall in love over the period of years contained within hours and minutes, with occasional visits from Anibal’s brother Nelson the only indication of the passage of time.
Anibal’s ground crew vest for the prologue is taken off and the cuffs are added, paper doll style, to reveal a guayabera. His epilogue costume features a more casual shirt, hospital pants, and sugar skull makeup. Celestina’s dress is styled after a traditional chaquira blouse and dresses inspired by La Catrina garb. Anibal’s jacket, Celestina’s sandals, and even her dress can be removed to reveal her starry nightgown.Being an intruder on Anibal’s and Celestina’s haven, Nelson’s costumes are less stylized. Even still, his 2-years-later costume has a casual guayabera over a skull t-shirt, alluding to Día de los Muertos.As an homage to Rivera’s Latinx heritage and the themes of life and death, the set is designed to resemble a Día de los Muertos shrine. The vignettes at the side are the bus stop and hospital from the prologue and epilogue.
Naomi Wallace transports us to a meat packing plant, where we follow the stories of workers Cod, Maggot, Brandon, and Roach. We gain an insight to the physically and morally stained hierarchy of the industry, gaining insights from the boss, Baquin, and the looming Sausage Man, an idol of the past.
Cod’s ties to the Sausage Man are depicted by the chain around her waist. The textile worker, their mother, is depicted in a charred shirtwaist for the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.Sausage Man’s grinder hangs by the same chain Cod has around her waist. Baquin’s suit is cow-brown, and his pocket square is udder pink. Tuck’s stained shoes tie him to the kill floor he worked his way to Supervisor from.Roach, Brandon, and Maggot all have butcher outfits typical of meat-packers. Roach is forced to take her jumpsuit off by Baquin. Brandon’s dress is worn during his intimate scenes with Roach.The set is triangular for the Shirtwaist Factory, the alchemical symbol for fire, and the greek delta for change. The meat hooks and freezer flaps slide along the line for different looks; the cutting blocks are also modular.
AIDEN GALBRAITH 