The Penelopiad Set Design
In my Scene Design class we were tasked with creating a design for The Penelopiad. We drafted groundplans and section views for our concepts and then made a 1/8" scale model. For the final project in the class, I recreated the set in a 1/4" scale to include more detail. It was the first play I got to design in its entirety.
Concept Storyboard
I imagined the show taking place in an abandoned underwater Greek city. All the set pieces were cracked and covered in seaweed and lichen and had a blue-green color palette. Since we were designing the show as if it would be built in UF's blackbox theatre, I put a small waterfall in each corner that could light up different colors to match the mood of the scene and used the mezzanine to showcase Penelope's twelve maids looking down on the story. This storyboard shows early sketches of how I imagined five prominent scenes to look: the beginning of the show with Penelope greeting the audience in Hades, the courtyard scenes, the travel to Odysseus's kingdom, Penelope and Odysseus's bedroom, and the room where the maids would unweave Penelope's shroud at night.
Groundplan
I created a groundplan of my design in AutoCAD using a layout of the theatre. For the project we only needed to include a few prominent recurring scenes, but I found it helpful to plan out every scene and all the pieces of furniture they would need.
Section Elevation
I created a section elevation of my design in AutoCAD for the scene of unweaving the shroud. The scene involved twelve pieces of fabric hanging down for the maids to move and dance around, so this drawing would explain their placement.
Boat Plan
I created drawings of a moving set piece, a boat that crosses the stage. A door on the side would open up for actors to go on and off and a faux candle on the front would imitate a hanging torch.
Models
I created my first modelbox for this project. First I made a 1/8" scale model of the set and experimented with lighting to create the moods and visuals of several different scenes. Later, I recreated the model in 1/4" scale for my final project in the class, allowing for much more detail.
