Designed and painted by Brian Willis. Sets constructed by Sean Magee
Will be performed by Coleraine Provincial Players, (2010)
POSSIBLE ELEMENTS which could go into this scene.
BACKCLOTH
| Wooden crane | |
| Barrels and crates | (The Producer has asked us to make these capable of sitting on , so I will possibly paint them trompe l'oeil and Sean will attach them to chairs on the back. |
| Cobbles | Because the eyeline of the audience is about a foot off the stage floor they would "see" the ground. |
| Sailing ship moored | Sails furled, Lots of ropes and masts. Masts of other moored ships in the background. |
| Bollards | Seagull excrement on |
| Rope | |
| Baskets and nets |
WINGS (Might be either side. Still to decide.
)
One side wing definitely to be exterior of the Admiral Benbow Inn
BENBOW INN EXTERIOR WING Needs a nice interesting profile
edge.
| Bottle Glass window | Low |
| Stone steps | |
| Overhanging upstairs window | To give profile. Watch height- cast not bang heads |
| Sign | A must |
| Practical low door | |
THE BACKCLOTH (17 feet wide by eleven feet high)
Pencil sketches let me try out values (lights and darks)
and contrasts.
In this case I might simplify this cloth which is a bit too 'busy'.
I plan to paint the moored ships in an hazy aerial perspective to help
the depth (See my "Oliver"
dock scene)
I have given myself a high eyeline here, and in order to 'explain' that,
I have put a set of stone steps in the foreground going down to the dockside.
INN EXTERIOR WING (Aud. Left)
This is a huge wing flat, eight feet wide (plus the sign) But it is permanently fixed at the back of the stage and is never moved.
The door is practical .
I might not paint the barrel as it will impede entrance through the door.
I will allow myself a little digression here.
Rather than a boring 'full frontal', where possible I like to show more than one face of a building to give it depth, as I have drawn here - where you can see a little of the right hand side.
But this is a wing flat so it wouldn't work because cast members coming from behind would be out of scale and would look like giants. Both figures in this drawing are the same height.
OPTIONAL "TAKE AWAY" WING FLAT. (Aud. Right)
Five feet wide
This would be permanently fixed at the back of the stage
If used this will help to give depth to the scene. (The door is painted on)
Incidentally this permanent wing will enable off-stage wings to be stored behind and against it
If this piece is not used as a separate wing then I will paint it on the backcloth.
DOCKSIDE SEATS (Number to be decided later)
Trompe l'oeil paintings on hardboard to be attached to actual
stools behind. These to be 1'6" high
And here is the finished "TakeAway" wing flat. (Five feet wide and 11 feet high)
Note I have hinted that we are only seeing part of this building so there is no top to the window. The door is incomplete too as is the "Open" notice.
The hanging flowers give me an excuse to use their shadows to describe the wall and lintel above the door.
Eyeline for this flat is one foot off the floor.
 |
And here is the Inn Exterior wing completed. 8 feet wide (Plus the sign) and 11 feet high. This is to be a permanent wing so there is no moving involved during the show. Michael stands in this photo for scale. I wanted to ensure the sign would not bump any one's head although it looks to me as if Michael is standing on tip-toe! The crack at the door plaster is to help define the planes of the wall . That's a practical hinged door. Note how sign hangs behind and is slightly obscured to give the flat depth. Foliage on wooden door lintel hides a join in the hardboard. The painting of the sign is only roughly done with emulsion paint. I have since taken the sign home and redone it in greater detail using acrylic paints. See photo below. |
