It's alive! Design as a visual dramaturgy in a collaborative practice

This is a comparative study into two recent collaborations and how the design-led practice worked within them, looking at how scenography can be used as a directional tool. Both of the studies examined how design can be used as visual dramaturgy with the role of the body as signifier for the mechanics of the production and moving beyond costume as characterisation.

I will be examining my collective’s work (Brave New Worlds) and in particular our production Trinity in which design initiates the devising process, with aesthetics replacing traditional playwriting, and how collaboration works in conjunction to this; in particular the use of costume influencing the sound design. This will be examined in comparison with my work on a research and development residency with Opera Up Close where we explored how to stage Bela Bartók’s Bluebeards Castle. Specifically, we considered how the operatic can lead the design process and develop an interplay between the use of a dancer’s body and physical space in opposition to the libretto and singers characters. I will be exploring how costume can be the driver in shaping and directing other scenographic elements such as set and sound. How it can be the stimulus for choreography and how this can work in a collaborative practice?