Laura Pennell

 I was inspired by this to look at other cultures and to research patterns. My concept of Hamlet is set in Morocco; this is because I wished to link the play with today’s society. In my opinion combing English and Arabic culture together could create a sense of diversity within audiences as well as embracing other cultures, traditions and clothing. However I decided I wanted my set to remain white so I could incorporate projection to map on textures, motion and patterns.  As a group we had a site visit to the Nottingham Playhouse Theatre we were spoken to by the production manager. I felt this really helped me to understand sight-lines and fly bars. The sight-lines for this production was an important design aspect to think about.

 

When researching Moroccan structure and cities I found ‘The Blue City’ (Chefchaouen) and ‘The Red City’ (Marrakesh). These two contrasting colours combined with similar architecture were very intriguing and influenced my idea of changing the set throughout the production from blue to red. I felt the blue represented mourning and sadness for the previous king Hamlet’s death. I felt that the blue tones would also foreshadow Ophelia drowning as the blue hues and patterns cover the set and reflect the water washing over Ophelia. As the tension and bloodshed progressed the scenes would slowly change form blue to red.