A treatise on writing the stage

How does a scenographer perceive his design idea?—How is his journey of creativity? How nature plays a key role in creating this art?

Having discussed the above-mentioned aspects in the previous chapter, we will now move onto analysing the process through which the scenographers conceive the design ideas from texts or concepts, provided by the directors. Before formulating an idea, the artist must recognise that scenography cannot be envisaged in seclusion, and that its concept depends on an array of factors including text, the vision of the director and the actors and the overall functionality of the performance. Quite often scenographers visualise compositions according to their own perceptions of life and that of art. In this process, both the characters and the conceptual framework are reinterpreted in correspondence to their subjective emotional and intellectual understanding. The scenographers explore varied approaches and techniques for creating a new visual language which is to be written on a three-dimensional stage space. The space developed by the scenographers is often symbolic that metamorphoses the text into visual compositions. It often revitalises the entire production by the tool of optical phantasm.

It has been observed that the idea of designing a play germinates, sprouts and grows along with the production process to such a degree that the idea often becomes the foundation of the performance. Interestingly, the design idea triggers the imagination of an artist for spatial compositions which is realised through the ‘performance text’ combining the actors, space and the audience. The creation of a dramatic space with the help of artistic imagination, its functional behaviour through a series of interactions of the actors and the final participation of the spectators who interpret the play through their subjective experiences come under the domain of scenography. Parker and Smith (1974) observe:

The design idea is aimed at stimulating an intellectual or emotional response in the audience. The control of the design elements may be broad and sensational to arouse primitive emotions, or they may be subtle and refined to stimulate an intellectual response. Good design is a result of logical yet imaginative thinking and intuitive feeling expressed through an idea or central theme.

As mentioned earlier, unlike other singular art forms, scenography cannot be conceived in isolation. It has to be evolved and evaluated through practice and can only be comprehended by the parameters of presentation. It cannot dissociate itself independently from the play for interpretation. It requires a text or an idea for flourishing, without which it is impossible for the scenographer to actuate a space for portraying the realities of life. The psychological atmosphere created through the design helps the audience to explore layers of dramatic components— conflict, tension, suspense, actions, motif and finally the aesthetics of the production. They stimulate the dramatic factors and that is the major contribution of scenography in theatre. Robert Edmond Jones (1887-1954) argues:

The designer must strive to achieve in his setting what I can only call a high potential. The walls, the furniture, the properties, are only the facts of a setting, only the outline. The truth is in everything but these objects, in the space they enclose, in the intense vibration they create. They are fused into a kind of embodied impulse.

Different forms of art stipulate different rules, so does scenography. Each new production poses new challenges for the scenographers. For many, the idea clicks while reading the play, while for others it is an internal journey of their own selves. Sometimes, the scenographers perceive and develop their ideas by interacting with the performance spaces prior to the rehearsal process. Alternatively, the scenographers explore the ideas with the help of a group of actors during practice. Often, an unprecedented behaviour of the space, which often occurs accidentally through the interaction between the actor and the space, helps evoke an idea to take shape in the scenographer’s mind. For some, this creative accident inspires a scenographer to such an extent that it becomes the take-off point to start their journey into the world of imagination. Out of numerous means of germinating design ideas to trigger at the dramatic imagination, here are certain approaches:

Out of numerous means of germinating design ideas to trigger the dramatic imagination, the approaches such as, reading

and interpreting the text, understanding the dramatic conflict, realising the characters’ interpersonal relationships, defining the locations of the scenes, researching and

presenting the design idea, and finally selecting the performance space to execute the final design, hold significance. Let’s discuss them in greater detail:

Section I

Reading the Text

The text (script) is the fundamental source of a play production. The text, which is a convolution of words defining writer’s perception, is enlivened in a play through performance. And thus, theatre, as the popular saying goes, is born twice: first by the playwright and second by the actors through the performance. In Sanskrit, it is termed as ‘Dvija’ which means, ‘he who takes birth twice’. In this creative journey of nurturing an idea, the metamorphosis of the text (into performance) holds an immense significance. The task of interpreting a script and visualising it as a live performance is endowed exclusively on the scenographers. Through their endeavours the audience enters a performance for an active visual experience of the text.

There are varied methods of interpreting the text into visuals that Indian scenographers have experimented with. Most of the artists usually keep a sketchbook and a pencil while reading a play. I have seen many noted Indian scenographers such as Professor Robin Das and Professor Bansi Kaul invigorating the ideas of a text into sketches simultaneously while reading. Quite often, Professor Das would be seen scribbling random sketches, working on haphazard lines and forms, in an entirely absent state of mind while reading the text. These untidy lines would finally become the source of his scenography. He often finds it difficult to control the flow of thoughts leading to a propagation of numerous images, juxtaposed while reading the text and later, while working on its functionalities. Also a few other scenographers such as Dr Nissar Allana and Sri Bapi Bose would go through the text multiple times before developing their ideas, meticulously executing them through sketches, drawings and finally developing the models before transposing those to the stage space.

Often the first reading of the text may not help the scenographers to end up with the final idea, but it certainly provides basic understanding of the play, in general, along with the characters’ psychology, mood and atmosphere. Also, scenography takes an upper hand when the production is dependent on the collaboration of various sources or is devised without any well-structured text and is based on an idea only. An intense discussion with the director to understand their perspective and approach towards the production can also help to visualise the design.

However, while designing, the scenographers should be aware of the possibilities of falling into the trap of preoccupations. Therefore, they should liberate themselves from the preconceived notions that often create hindrance in imagining new concepts. A text must trigger the insight of the scenographer.

(Excerpted with permission from Satyabrata Rout’s ‘Scenography’; published by Niyogi Books)