DESIGN A PLAY FROM A DIRECTOR/PRODUCER PERSPECTIVE

Student Name

Dr. González

Introduction to Theatre

14 December 2016

My Production of Little Shop of Horrors

Theatre and Audience Space

I would have my play produced at the place where I am most familiar and where I share

many memories – at my old high school. The name of my high school is The Ursuline School

and it has an auditorium called the Auriana Theatre. This theatre seats three hundred people and

has a proscenium stage. The audience members would all be stationary and seated, as in a

conventional theatre. The seats are a bluish-grey color. They are divided into two sections and

are on a very slight slope. There are three aisles – one running down the middle of the theatre,

one on the far left, and one on the far right. There is also plenty of space in between the stage and

the front row. The theatre has a very high ceiling and the floor is lined with grey carpeting. There

are three double door exits at the back of the theatre and two other exit doors by either side of the

stage. There are also two staircases that lead up to the stage on either side. The right wing leads

to a small space, a small dressing room, and a spiral staircase which leads to a larger

dressing/storage room. The left wing leads to a small space as well as a staircase that leads to the

upper floors of my school’s visual and performing arts building. Lights are set directly above the

stage and all of the technical controls for lighting and sound are operated in a room located on

the second floor of the arts building. Relative to the theatre, the room is located at the ceiling,

overlooking the stage. There is also a catwalk at the ceiling that extends on either side of the

technical control room. This is where stage crew controls spotlights. The tech booth and the

catwalk can be seen by those on stage or those facing the back of the theatre, but cannot be seen

by the audience. The curtains are navy and they close by coming together at the middle of the

stage.

Overview of the theatre

View facing the back of the theatre

Performance Space

The performance space is mainly on the stage. All of the props and furniture pieces are

going to be on stage along with the performers themselves. The only time the performance space

will extend into the audience is at the end of the play. When it is time for the last musical

number, Finale Ultimo (Don’t Feed the Plants), the urchins will be on stage with a white

spotlight on them. Then, the main characters will enter the stage when it is their turn to sing.

These characters as well as Audrey II will be washed with red light. Finally, the ensemble will

enter the theatre from the exit doors in the back and white spotlights will be on them as they run

through the aisles, singing and urging the audience not to feed the plants. The band playing the

music would be set in the center of the aisle between the stage and the front row.

Set Design, Performers, and Lighting

I would use triangular pillars for the backdrop. One side would have a brick wall pattern

that I would use for scenes in the flower shop. Another side would have a light sky with

silhouettes of city buildings and the third side would have a dark sky with identical building

silhouettes. I would use these to indicate scenes taking place outside in the city either during the

day or at night. During scenes inside the flower shop, I would have the crew roll out a large book

shelf upstage right filled with fake plants, other items a flower shop might have, such as garden

shears or gloves, and props that the actors may need during scenes so that they are easily

accessible. I would also have them roll out a desk for Mr. Mushnik downstage right, near center

stage that has some paperwork, a telephone, and a radio on it, as well as a doorway upstage left

for the actors to walk through when they enter or exit the shop. When it is time for the big

Audrey II plant to come out, I would set it downstage right. During these scenes, the actors will

have most of center stage and stage left to move around in. When scenes are taking place

outside, I would have the pillars turned to the building silhouettes with either the light or dark

sky and have the crew roll out a fake building downstage left. The building would be painted

with a brick pattern. It would also have a functioning front door and an open square near the top,

which would act as a window. The inside would have a platform to climb up on so that actors

can be seen through the window. Audrey would make use of the inside of this building during

Somewhere That’s Green. She would start singing center stage, outside of the building. Then, she

would enter the building and climb up to the window to finish her song. As she makes her way

inside, however, Audrey would pause in her singing, but the band would continue playing music

as she makes the transition. She would pick the song back up once she is at the window. The

street urchins would use the staircase on stage left as a stoop – their typical hangout place.

During scenes taking place outside, the actors would be able to move around on stage right and

center stage. For scenes at the dentist, I would have the pillars turned back to the brick wall

background, and bring out a dentist’s chair center stage and the doorway upstage left. During this

scene, actors would be able to move around mainly on stage left and stage right. As for lighting,

the only lights are the ones hanging above the stage and the spotlights on the catwalk. A white

wash will mainly be used throughout the play. White spotlights will be used for emphasis on a

specific character or characters if they have a solo. Lighting on the rest of the stage will be

dimmed if the surroundings are irrelevant during a scene or if there is a scene change occurring.

A red wash will be used on the stage during death scenes when Audrey II eats a character. As

mentioned before, red spotlights will be used on Audrey II and on the dead characters when they

come out to sing the last musical number.

Set Design

Costumes

Main characters will have two different costumes. Most costume changes will occur after the end

of the first act. All other characters will have one costume. Ensemble will be wearing clothing

appropriate to who their character is in the play (ex: someone playing a cop will have a police

uniform on, someone playing a businessman will have a suit on, someone playing a wino will

have old, tattered dirty clothes on).

Seymour: Seymour’s first act costume consists of glasses with big, square plastic frames, a

brown, green, and yellow plaid dress shirt with a dark mustard colored tie, light khaki pants, and

dark brown loafers. Both the shirt and the pants would be a little big and baggy on his small,

skinny frame. I think this outfit fits Seymour in the first act as it goes with his non-

conventionally attractive persona. Seymour’s second act costume consists of the same glasses

with big, square plastic frames, a white dress shirt with a crimson red tie, black pinstriped dress

pants, and black dress shoes. This wardrobe upgrade reflects Seymour’s growing success thanks

to Audrey II. The red tie also symbolizes and foreshadows the bloodshed that will occur.

Audrey: My idea for Audrey’s first act costume consists of a blonde wig with a black headband,

a black, off-the-shoulder skater dress, a small black purse, with black pumps. This rather plain

outfit matches Orin’s and symbolizes how she’s repressed because of him. Audrey’s second act

costume consists of the same blonde wig, except with a red headband, a white blouse with a deep

v-neck and ruffled sleeves, a tight black bandage skirt, and red pumps. This outfit matches

Seymour’s second act outfit, showing that she is now with him. The red also foreshadows her

bloody death.

Mr. Mushnik: My idea for Mr. Mushnik’s costume consists of a brown and green checkered

sweater vest over a white dress shirt, dark grey slacks, and black dress shoes. His second act

costume consists of a dark grey pinstriped suit with a white dress shirt, a maroon tie, and black

dress shoes. This wardrobe upgrade shows how his business became more successful thanks to

Seymour and Audrey II. His matching outfit with Seymour also emphasizes that they are father

and son. Mr. Mushnik’s maroon tie foreshadows his bloody death as well.

Orin: My idea for Orin’s first costume consists of a white t-shirt with a black leather jacket, dark

denim jeans that are cuffed up at the bottom, and black Converse sneakers. This gives him a

classic egotistical, alpha male kind of vibe. Orin will have a costume change whenever he is

performing as a dentist. His second costume consists of the same white t-shirt underneath a white

lab coat, the same dark denim jeans and black Converse sneakers, as well as a black and red

power drill. The unprofessional clothing underneath his lab coat as well as his first name on the

left breast, rather than his title and last name, emphsizes that he is not suited to be a dentist. The

power drill is another indicator of his unprofessionalism and of the pain he loves to inflict on

others.

Chiffon, Ronnette, and Crystal: My idea for the urchins’ first act costume is a white v-neck t-

shirt underneath a navy blue cardigan with red stripes on the right sleeve and a red “F”

embroidered on the left breast, a brown, green, and yellow plaid skirt, white knee high socks

with two navy stripes at the top, and white Converse sneakers. I think this school girl outfit is

perfect for their witty, know-it-all characters. The little “F” on the cardigan also helps to indicate

that they spend more time hanging out on the streets than they do in school. Their second act

costume consists of a black and silver swirly dress with sequins all over it and black fringes at

the bottom hanging until about just below their knees, black elbow length gloves, and red pumps.

Their second costume reflects the success that Audrey II has brought. The black and the red

colors foreshadow the deaths and the bloodshed that will occur.

Audrey II: Audrey II would have a dark green head, dark purple lips, a pointy, crimson red

tongue, and sharp, curved white teeth. Its leaves would be a lighter green, the vines would match

its dark green head, and the pot would be a dark tan color. The plant would also have even darker

green warts all over it. Audrey II would start off as a small hand puppet. There will be a hole cut

out on top of Mr. Mushnik’s desk and the puppet will be placed directly on top of this hole. A

stage crew member would be hiding underneath the desk, controlling the puppet with his hand.

Whenever Seymour is carrying Audrey II, the puppet on the desk will be removed. Instead,

Seymour will be wearing a black jacket, which has an Audrey II hand puppet with a fake arm

around it attached to the left sleeve. Seymour would control the puppet with his left hand, but the

fake arm would make it seem like he is holding the plant. He would have free movement with his

right arm since it would just be a regular sleeve. The giant Audrey II puppet will be brought on

stage during Closed for Renovation. It will have a big white sheet on it and will be revealed at

the end of the song. This version of Audrey II will be controlled by a stage crew member. It will

look the same as the other two smaller puppets, except it will have a long stem for its body. The

stem will be a medium green color, lighter than the head and vines, but darker than the leaves.

The pot will be big enough for a person to fit inside, as a stage crew member will be hiding

inside of it. He/she will be able to control movement of its head, stem, and mouth. The head will

be able to tilt to either side and move so that it appears to be looking forward, to the left, or to the

right. The stem will be able to move up and down, so the plant could seem bigger or smaller. The

mouth will be able to move up and down. This movement will be used when Audrey II is

speaking or when he is eating someone. Someone who can sing and do a deep, menacing voice

will be cast as the voice of Audrey II. The mouth will be big enough for someone to fit inside of

it. It will have a secret opening in the back, so that actors can jump in and crawl through the back

when they are “eaten” by Audrey II. When this happens, the stem will be lowered so that the

head is resting on the pot, and the mouth will be open as wide as it can so that the actor can go

inside. Then, the mouth will be closed while the actor escapes through the back opening. The

giant puppet will be placed at the very far end of stage right so that the actors cannot be seen

when they crawl out and exit on stage right.

Act I/First Costumes

Act II/Second Costumes

Example of a Scene and Song (Prologue and part of Scene 1)

The half of the pillars on stage right will be turned to the brick wall backdrop. The half of

the pillars on stage left will be turned to the daytime city backdrop. The flower shelves, Mr.

Mushnik’s desk, the doorway, and the building will all be on stage. When the curtain opens, Mr.

Mushnik will be frozen at his desk in the flower shop. Chiffon, Ronnette, and Crystal will be

standing in front of the building, by the stairs on stage left, ready to sing Little Shop of Horrors.

They will have a spotlight focused on them and the rest of the stage will be dark. After their song

is over, they will sit frozen on the staircase and the spotlight will fade. The lights will then focus

on stage right in the flower shop, where Mr. Mushnik is. The scene in the flower shop will

continue, and Audrey will come from stage left, entering through the doorway on her cue.

Seymour will enter from stage right on his cue. At the end of that scene, when Mr. Mushnik

steps out of the flower shop to yell at the street urchins, the lights will dim in the shop and focus

on stage left. During this scene, the crew will change the half of the pillars on stage right to the

daytime city backdrop and the desk, the flower shelves, and the doorway will be removed.

Crystal will stand and begin singing Downtown. When her solo is over, the lights will come on

on stage right to reveal the rest of the stage, as well as Seymour, Audrey, and the ensemble as

they continue singing Downtown.

Creative Process and References

I drew from various experiences and sources to come up with my version of Little Shop

of Horrors. I chose to have my play produced at the Auriana Theatre because of my familiarity

with the space as well as the memories I have made there. If I had chosen a huge theatre, such as

the Belasco Theatre in New York City, I feel like I would not have been able to go into much

detail because I am not familiar with the space. I also feel like I would have been too

overwhelmed with the large size of the stage as well as the theatre itself. In the Auriana Theatre,

I know exactly where everything is, including what is backstage, where the tech booth is, and

how much empty room there is within the audience space. I was able to use this knowledge to

my advantage. I chose to do Little Shop of Horrors, because I am very familiar with the play and

I was able to come up with many ideas for my production, drawing from my own experience, in

addition to what I have learned in this class. For the set design, I received inspiration from many

different sources. I was first introduced to the triangular pillars my senior year of high school. I

was in a production of Little Women and my director used the pillars to create different

backdrops. I was again reminded of their usefulness when I saw Nice Work If You Can Get It. I

think that these pillars are a very easy, convenient method of creating a totally different setting in

a matter of seconds. I also got my idea for using a doorway to indicate the exiting and entering of

the flower shop from Nice Work If You Can Get It. I was casted as Ronnette in a production of

Little Shop of Horrors during my junior year of high school. In this production, we did not have

a doorway to the flower shop. If someone was entering or exiting the shop they would either just

walk on stage if they were in the wings or simply walk into the designated space for the shop if

they were already on stage. I think the doorway is a simple, but more effective way of

representing this action and allows the audience the ability to picture the shop more clearly. I got

the idea of using a fake building from my experience in Little Shop. My director also used a fake

building, however it was not functional because it was not three dimensional. It was simply a flat

wooden board painted to look like the front of a building to add to the city setting. I thought it

would be cool to make it a functional building through which Audrey could enter and seem as if

she was inside an apartment. I obtained inspiration for the use of red lighting from watching The

Children’s Hour and Nice Work If You Can Get It. In The Children’s Hour, they made use of red

lighting at the end of the play, which helped to intensify the scene, leaving the audience with a

chilling feeling. In Nice Work If You Can Get It, their effective use of different lighting made

scenes more comical and more believable. I never thought about different colored lighting

because in all the productions I have been in, there was only ever white light. However, I wanted

to make use of this tactic by using red lighting to emphasize the bloodiness and horror of a scene

as well as to indicate a character’s death. As for costumes, the main characters are wearing pretty

typical clothing for this play, but I did make it so that the costumes were somewhat matching. I

did this to distinguish the main characters and to show that they are all closely related in their

prominent roles within the play. Audrey’s first act costume matches Orin’s, indicating that she is

with him; however, her second act costumes matches Seymour’s, indicating that by the second

act, she is with Seymour and truly loves him. In the first act, Seymour and Mr. Mushnik have

matching color schemes, and in the second act they have matching patterns. This is to present a

boss-employee, but also a father-son kind of relationship. In the first act, the urchins and

Seymour also have matching color schemes. This is to show their close relation to Seymour’s

character since they are basically the narrators of his story. I also drew inspiration for the school

girl outfit from my own costume when I was in the production (since I wore a similar outfit) as

well as from the fact that I actually did wear a uniform for school (coming from a Catholic, all-

girls school). My use of red and black in many of the costumes stem from wanting to symbolize,

emphasize, and foreshadow the bloodshed and deaths that occur in the play. My inspiration for

the use of Audrey II puppets comes from my experience in Little Shop and our class discussions

and videos on puppets. I found the lesson on puppets in theatre very interesting. Usually when I

think of puppets, I just think of small, simple puppets that are controlled by someone’s hand

opening and closing. However, it was fascinating to see how complex puppets can be and how

they can be made to look and move like real people. I was happy to realize that I could

incorporate different kinds of puppets in my production. From my experience, we used the giant

Audrey II puppet with the secret opening and both of the small Audrey II puppets (the one on the

desk and the one attached to Seymour’s jacket). I wanted to make use of the giant puppet again

because it not only was very effective in showing how big, and menacing Audrey II is supposed

to be, but it is also an example of one of the more complex puppets that have more controls and

functions than a simple hand puppet. Plus, I just think that it’s really cool that people could

actually go inside the plant’s mouth and crawl out through the back to seem as if they were eaten

by the plant.