The Design Team
Chris Willems lectures in Design at USQ and designs superb sets for the USQ's Theatre season's diverse and varied theatre productions. He has worked in television and theatre and continues to delight audiences with his original and unique sets.
Lorinda Smith, a second year Stage Management student in USQ's Department of Theatre, has designed the costumes for The Crucible as part of her assessment. Lorinda has an interest in design but is amazed by just how much she learnt about herself and her career prospects through her role. She admits that a passion has been awakened in her and that this will not be her last stint in costume design.
An Interview with Chris Willems
Elle - Tell me about your design for The Crucible?
Chris - I always work in consultation with the Director and keep his or her vision in mind. My design is wooden and unadorned. It is simple, plain and basic. I wanted the set to be as flexible as possible so that the director could create changing spaces. It is minimal, but I wouldn't call it minimalist in the Japanese sense, but it has minimal elements so that environments can be created and changed within the drama.
I read the play and get a feel for it. I then look at the needs of the production. I dream a bit at first and then I edit my thoughts. There are always constraints in any production and design is a practical art.
Elle - Does your design evolve or do you sit down and design it all at one time?
Chris - It evolves. Art is an evolving and exciting process and I always know the constraints before I begin. Design is imaginative play and I then turn the imaginative play into a practical outcome. Design is an evolution of ideas.
Elle - I noticed there were fridge boxes forming a living space in the rehearsal room, what are these going to be transformed into?
Chris - The fridge boxes are just substitute panels for the actors to rehearse with and for the Director to work with while blocking the play. They will be replaced with plywood panels that again represent the plainness and simpleness of the people. They sit on feet and can be manipulated by the Director to create directorial opportunities and options.
Elle - Do they symbolise something other than what they appear to be?
Chris - That is one of the wonderful things about theatre which is not present in TV or film - it is the audience's imagination that gives meaning to the panels. The audience can make information out of information and create their own meaning; that is what makes theatre so special and transformational.
Elle - What kinds of sets do you like best?
Chris - Minimalist. I prefer sets that are suggestive rather than contrived. I have designed both. People talk about naturalistic interpretation but I say there is no such thing as naturalism only degrees of stylisation.
The Arts Theatre is a challenging space. It has limitations and presents the Designer with many obstacles but I look at these challenges as opportunities for creativity. It allows me to explore into my creativity. It makes one be more innovative in one's creative approach.
An Interview with Lorinda Smith
Elle - The Puritans were not flamboyant people. Does this have an affect on your designs for The Crucible?
Lorinda - Definitely. I work in conjunction with the Director and Robert wanted a traditional style. The Puritans believed that plainness was next to Godliness and my designs reflect that attitude.
Elle - What do you use as inspiration when you are designing costumes?
Lorinda - Paintings from this era. The camera was not invented in 1692.
Elle - Do costumes reflect the personality of the character?
Lorinda - Yes. If you look at it as the actors create the internal personality of the character, the costumes create the external personality of the character. Costumes are an extension of the character.
Elle - Are colours that characters wear significant to the role?
Lorinda - Yes. In Puritan times only the rich were able to wear black clothes as black dye was very expensive. Only the poor wore brown or beige clothes.
In The Crucible the judges wear black and white clothes and this symbolises that the law courts and the judges see people as guilty or not guilty. In the courtroom you are either right or wrong. There are no shades of grey worn by the clergy either. You are either with God or with the Devil. Abigail, on the other hand, is portrayed as a flirt and a little bit daring and she wears a shade of red. I took my inspiration for her costume from the Scarlet Letter, a book about prostitutes who were required to wear a red sash so that people knew they were prostitutes. It is not spoken of in the play, but it is widely rumoured that Abigail becomes a prostitute on the streets of Boston.
Elle - As a designer, Is it more demanding to design classical pieces that you have researched from history or to create original contemporary pieces that are from your own imagination?
Lorinda - Historical pieces because you have to design them within the correct time frame, they have to be authentic. Contemporary pieces are drawn from a wider spectrum and there is more freedom for self-expression.
Elle - How do you find out what kinds of shoes, bonnets and gloves the girls wore in 1692?
Lorinda - I consult with Carolyn Taylor-Smith, the Costume Designer here at USQ and also with Robert and Chris. I also look on the internet and get ideas from books.