Laura Pennell
Aspiring Performance Designer
The Dispute
The Liverpool Everyman
When reading the dispute I began imagining geometric shapes and harsh lines and synthetic materials. My design concept then progressed into futurism, humans who have moved off the earth and colonised different planets then wonder what it was like to live on earth therefore put on an experiment. The experiment room represents a futuristic playground, providing the opportunity for the actors to play, have different levels and create interesting movements. The concept behind the playground aspect was to convey the character immaturity and naivety. Again to enhance the atmosphere that this world has been created by people who wouldn’t have known what earth had looked like and only have access to their materials the world would be very fake – Astroturf grass covering the floor and walls also LED signs and tubing lighting the different aspects. I would have three LED signs ‘forever’, ‘love’ and ‘infidelity’ they would come on/go off in different moments of the play in when character have said the words or have shown traits of the words.
Costume Designs
I wanted the costumes to have elements of the 18th century as this was the era the play was written in so having the subtle influence of the period I felt was important. I used the shape and structure of the corset and panels/structure of the skirts/jackets. I wanted the ‘experiments’ to wear lycra material playsuits/jumpsuits underneath matching to the actors/actresses skin tone therefore looking as if they were nude. This element would be seen as the material of the outer garments I want to be in transparent plastic. This would give a furistic feel to the character but also I wanted to give the feel that these characters were overly sexualised but the people in power and also each other. The characters in the play are very vain and are only provoked by attraction. Therefore I wanted the costumes to have sense of voyeurism without being vulgar.