ADA2O – Year 5 Drama: Exploring Aesthetics Through Composition and Expression

DESIGN PROPOSAL

PRODUCT: The design proposal will

 Develop a clear and coherent artistic intention
 Demonstrate a range of creative-thinking skills
 Show attention to audience and effect
 Use full sentences, paragraphs, and images/video when necessary to fully respond to
each prompt

In the process of generating a design for a theatre production, you must ask yourself?

1. What is the central argument of your production? (What is your moment of the play
fundamentally about?)

Essentially, this moment of the play is about a quareel between a strong-minded ruler
that doesn’t allow disobeyness and his son that wanted to seek true love. Creon refused
his son Haemon’s proposal of marrying Antigone, because he thought she was a traitor
and would be a “condemmed wife”. The chorus then talked about the curse that the
gods put on the Oedipus family for disobeying their commands, emphasizing the
consequence of irritating the supreme powers. Creon asked Haemon to not “lose wits
over a woman” and offered him a “peace treaty” between the father and the son. The
central argument of my production is a person’s freedom of choice versus the power of
the gods (or the authorities in the modern context).

2. What do you want to do to your audience? (What effect do you want to create for them
in a particular moment? What is your artistic intention?)

The purpose of this production is to use Haemon’s dilemma or even the dilemma of the
whole Oedipus family to encourage the audience think for themselves: will you follow
your heart no matter what or follow the rules from the authorities.

Sadly Creon represents the majority of the society, althougth many people criticized his
stubbornness and coldheartness. As the chorus even used to imagery to keep stressing
about the conseuquence of disobeying the gods rules, the audience can feel the
seriousness of the consequence and the miserable fate engraved in the Oedipus family.
Creon, as a member of the Oedipus family, spontanueously didn’t want any accident to
happen. In reality, no one wants to act against the supreme authorities. We all want to
avoid serious outcomes, so we accept the rules and oppress our free will. In this case,
the appearance of Haemon is very important, because he is like the little boat that is still
drifting in the storm of god’s power, unlike obedient people whose boats had already
sunken in the sea.
 This scene isn’t forced the audience to make the right choice, because there isn’t right
or wrong. You can chooce to protect yourself by following the rules; you can also do
whatever you want under the laws. The audience should be inspired to make choices on
their own.

3. What do your actors have to be able to do in the performance space? (The set and
design must ultimately be functional for your actors.)

The whole scene happens in a royal court. There is going to be stairs with a throne on
top of them at the center of the stage. The chorus is going to divide into two groups and
stand at two sides of the court, surrounding Haemon all the time. The atmosphere is
intense at first as Creon is extremely furious about Haemon’s request. Haemon is of a
lower status in comparison to his fater Creon; therefore, Haemon should always kneel
on the ground, whereas Creon is either going to sit on the throne or going to stroll
around Haemon. After listening to Haemon’s request, Creon should rise up from the
throne and start walking in heavy footsteps around Haemon to show his anger. Creon
should also add some hand gestures to represent his identity as a ruler, such as
caressing his gold ring unintentionally.

When the chorus shared the family tragedy, the tone should be serious. There is a lot of
use of imagery to depict the impact of enraging the gods, such as “a tidal current lashing
the shingle and shaking promontories.” During this part, the chorus should surround
Haemon and Creon, creating the vibe of suffocation. Also they are going to imitate the
natural phenomena mentioned in their part.
4. Then, finally, how can you use symbolism to communicate your ideas on stage (Consider
set, lighting, sound and costumes)? (This is where you will demonstrate your creative
thinking.) [1 -2 paragraphs outlining your ideas – plus images/video texts. You will go
into more detail later on.]

I would use the symbol of a little boat drifting in the sea where a storm is about to
happen to summarize my stage. I chose this symbol because it can convey both ideas
that are presented in the scene: on personal level, there is the internal struggle of
Haemon; on the higher level, the situation of the Oedipus family has been on the slide
since they disobeyed the gods’ orders. There is going to be a storm that hit the family
very hard. Based on the choice, the theme color of the stage should be dark theme such
as grey, black and other dark colors.

The lighting of the first part of the scene where Creon and Haemon are quarreling
should only focus Creon and Haemon, meaning other parts of the stage is pure black.
The lighting is going to be the natural white light, but it is going to be bright. The light
for Creon should be brighter than that for Haemon at this point to create the difference
of status.

The chorus plays a huge role in the story. The costume color should be black, but with
golden masks to indicate their identity as the third party—the story tellers. (see below)
When the story progresses to the part where the chorus starts to tell the story of the Oedipus
family, the lighting is going to swith, making Creon and Haeon in the shadow and suddenly the
chorus in the light. The audience won’t notice the chorus in the first part, so they are going to
astonished. The chorus is going to surround the main characters. The lighting for the main
characters should be dim and dark. The lighting for the chours should be relatively right and the
color should be blue, reflecting the imagery about storms. There is going to be sounds of wild
wind and thunder, as well as the splashing sound of lightenings.

When the chorus is done with its part, the lighting is going to swith again to the part one
situation. The chorus is also going to return back to its first position. The lights are going to be
natural white color; however, the light for Haemon should be as bright as that for Creon
comparing to the lighting in the first part. This indicates that although there is a difference in
status and a peace treaty has made, Haemon doesn’t bow to the power of the authorities. Both
Haemon and Creon are going with their own decisions.

Bibliography

“The Acoustical Mask of Greek Tragedy.” Didaskalia,

www.didaskalia.net/issues/vol7no1/vovolis_zamboulakis.html.
STANDARDS: Design Proposal

Criterion C: Thinking creatively

In the design proposal, students should be able
to:
i. Develop a feasible, clear, imaginative and
coherent artistic intention
ii. Demonstrate a range and depth of creative-
thinking behaviours