Clybourne Park
Clybourne Park is a very insightful play that reflects the
discrimination issues happening in the past and in the present day. The
performance should show the importance of the African-American history, as well
as the American history. The colors of the stage and the costume should be
between black and white in order to make a relatively contrast between the
minority and the majority in the society.
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| Ken and Trisha Margeson Theatre |
The content of Clybourne Park is about prejudice and
discrimination. The play involved with extreme social problems and issues, and
because of that, it is directly targeted to elder and mature audiences that
have highly and critical thinking skills. In order to particularly target to
this kind of audiences, I would select the Ken and Trisha Margeson Theatre at
the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre as the location of the performance. The theatre
is located in the center of Orlando surrounded with colleges, schools, and
businesses which gather many of the students and businessmen in the area. The
theatre is fairly large that provides 324 seats for small amount of audiences
to view the show quietly. The set up of the theatre also provides a pentagon
shape stage that gives just enough space for the all settings and lighting.
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The setting of the play should be a house with accessible
view to each room; therefore the audience can see what each character is doing
at any time. The house should be two-story high with a stair that can also view
by the audience from every side of the theatre. There should only be one door for
enter and exit purposes. The house, in the first act, should provide a setting
that similar to the house in Chicago in 1959. The decoration in the house
should reflect the family is wealth, middle class people. As well as in the second
act, the house should also provide an idea that indicates the family is rich. The
house doesn’t have to be changed too much since both acts are happening in the
same house. However, the furniture and the decoration of the house have to be replaced
with the style of present day. The house itself does not have to be symmetrical
and the line should appear in curve which, in my opinion, represents the mystical
of the play. The texture of the setting should be rough and uneven, helps
reflecting the theme of discrimination in the play. Black, white, and grey
should be the major colors of the setting because it provide a sense of sadness
and hopelessness to the audience. All the elements should provide a vision that
relates back to the discrimination problems that exist in both acts.
The costume of the play should indicate the wealth and the
status of each character. In the first act, Francine and Albert should be
wearing simple style and plain color clothing as a reflection of the minority
of the society, and other characters should dress nice to show that they are
the majority. However, in Act II, everyone should dress nice equally without
anyone outstand others. The clothing should also change from the 19th
style to the modern style.
The lighting of the play should create a mood of sadness. It
should effectively indicate the time by using a dim and a brighter light. In
the first act, the lighting should not be as strong as Act II. However, every
time Russ talking in Act I, a bright light should be shined on him reflects
that he is irritated and annoyed by the people that around him. And when
Francine and Albert talking in Act I, no light or a darker light should shine
on them to indicate that they are insignificant in the conversation and usually
being ignored. In Act II, all the light should be stronger than what are used
in Act I. The light can indicate that the time has changed as well as the
story. It can also reflect that view of the discrimination issues in the
society have also slightly improved. The technique of using darker light in Act
I can also be used in Act II; however, the person should be changed. In the end
of Act II, when Kenneth comes down from the stair, the light should only shine
on him and Dan, who is reading the letter. The use of lighting in both Acts
helps to indicate the importance and the significance of each character, which
also helps to tell how the society has changed from time to time.
The sound of the play should be regarding to the topics and
the themes, which are discrimination, bias, and prejudice. The background music
should reflect the loneliness and the darkness of each character. The music
that plays on the radio in the beginning of the first act should also parallel
with the one that plays in the end of the second act. In addition, the music
should be dark and mysterious in order to show how Kenneth is abandoned by the
community.
