Research and planning for 'Balance'

Balance:

I have been recruited onto a production team for a play called 'Balance' written and directed by Shirley Faraday. my roles are lighting and set design, with some parts to play in regards to costume. so heres what I have done:

Cosy Area - 'Balance'  

 

After spending some time reading the script and analysing the protagonist 'Ruth', a lady who wishes to open a gym and does so before landing herself in horrible debt. I met with the director Shirley Faraday who told me more about Ruth's intent and personality and it was brought to my attention that she would like a 'cosy area' at rear centre of the stage, to show her home like and her work life/career, as well as presenting her as approachable and kind.  

Faraday and I discussed the concept of pink, as the character is very feminine yet mature. I decided to look into this as pink can also be seen as an immature and 'girly' colour. And so I was trying to look into variations of pink and/or other ways of displaying femininity through the home environment. 

Whilst researching this I found that pastel colours, soft and light colours, pale pinks, greys, whites, creams, etc, display soft and female personality traits in a subtle way, revealing to the audience the personality of Ruth in her own space.  

What do I suggest? 

I suggest a cream/light coloured sofa, covered in a light pink throw/blanket, decorated with several pillows, all in a soft fabric. As well as this I would propose a coffee table, decorated with coasters, light/gentle coloured flowers, maybe some magazines from the green party (to reflect the undertones of the plays message without being too direct. I also suggest we don’t make this area immaculate as I would like to be able to present her as human, normal and down to earth like anyone else, subconsciously making her more relatable for the audience, as well as enabling them to sympathise with her as her home would be imperfect much like anyone elses.  

Thoughts? 

Maybe making this area slowly more chaotic/messy as the play progresses to reflect the failing of the business and things beginning to get on top of her, as well as reflecting her financial difficulty as her life begins to go south.  

Maybe create a window behind the sofa? Being able to decorate the set with soft furnishings such as curtains will make the area look more homely. Also adding a soft light cascading through the curtains would create a beautiful back light to the scene as well as making the set more realistic. However, this is not a necessity, as I think there are other things we could add to this space to create this, but this is personally my favourite.   

Balance – Lighting: 

After briefly looking over the script my ideas are as follows: 

When the gym is first open the lighting will be bright, relaxing, inviting, clear, in order to reflect her place and her new found dream becoming real. This lighting will continue until the gym begins to go down hill, when this happens I will darken the lighting to reflect this, making it more dingey, slightly depressing. When the characters enter into the 'cosy area', I plan on pulling some lights to create a close/small room via the lighting. 

This could be done using a spot light and a front light, but this would be something I would need to test on sight. At the end where the festival takes place, I plan on using trace on the lights so the light can hug the actors and imitate natural light for this scene. I will probably use trace/spun in the first lighting as well, as I feel without it the lights would be far too harsh to be able to correctly reflect the atmosphere.