Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

100 Chapter 5 Designers and Technicians
Bob Crowley, one of the leading scenic designers working today, is pleased to share examples of his design process with
readers of this book. Pictured here is his model of the basic classroom setting for Alan Bennett’s 2004 The History Boys.
Although the shape of the classroom is unlike any in the real world, it projects the play’s action perfectly. The overhead
fluorescent tubes dominating the set are not required for actual lighting but convey the institutional rigidity of modern education,
against which both teachers and students struggle to engage—and assert—their basic humanity. © Courtesy of Bob Crowley
produced, and extensive discussions with the director
and other members of the design and production team.
Scenic design usually is a collaborative process engaging
the director, other designers, the principal technical
staff, and whoever establishes and manages the
budget.
The discussion phase normally proceeds simultaneously
with the designer’s preparation of a series of
visualizations. These may begin with collected illustrations
(for example, clippings from magazines, notations
from historical sources, color ideas, spatial concepts)
and move on to sketches of individual settings, or storyboards,
which illustrate how the sets will be rearranged
or used in each scene. The designer will also
use digital or handcrafted color renderings of the set
elements, and often three-dimensional models, which
will help the director and design team fully understand
how the set will work and be put together. Eventually,
these early sketches lead to a set of working drawings
and other materials that will guide the eventual scenic
construction.
Throughout the process, of course, the designer
must gain the approval of the director and producers
and reckon with the constraints of the budget and the
skills of the construction staff. Successful designers
thus have to remain pragmatic and cooperative while
freely exercising their creativity. Part architect, part
engineer, part accountant, and part interpretive genius,
the scene designer today is one of the theatre’s premier
artists.