The Glass Menagerie - - 2nd Pass

This was my second pass at "The Glass Menagerie." It has a similar layout to the first pass, and still feature the raked stage, but this version adds in the full surround fire escape. This is the first pass with color being thought about, fully.

The approach for this pass was to get rid of as much as I could. I felt that my first pass, while very visually stunning, was not staying true to the story. I got rid of all the glass and decided to go with a very spare set, visually. One of the issues that I still haven't solved here is the scale of the show. "The Glass Menagerie" is such an intimate show and the space that we are designing in, the fictional "No Such Theater," is such a large space. At this point in my career the largest house I've ever designed in was 199 seats. One of the big obstacles in the first pass was that I tried to make everything large; to fill the space. That was not what this show needed and now I have to find a way to draw the viewer's eye to a single point in the space.

One way that I tried to accomplish this was by selectively using color. The Wingfield's apartment is all in black and white, framed by the colored fire escape. The story is all told in flashback. At the start of the play Tom explains to us that he is going to tell us a story and that it is his memory. In memory, specifics pop. The set, while black and white, would have colored props, or costume pieces, that would be things that Tom remembered vividly.

I decided to do one more pass because I didn't think that this was the strongest way to tell the story. For example, while I really like the idea of the black and white vs. color, I think there is a stronger way to use it. Right now, the fire escape is too "important" and I think part of the reason is because it is so colorful. I also feel like the proscenium style is not the best form for this set to take. It is too presentational, and doesn't lend the feeling of having a story told to you.

These are a few of the things I want to explore in the next pass.