Nikia O'Neal: My perspective of Ruined

In my production of Ruined my overall vision is somewhere tropical in Africa, preferably near the ocean and a little ways inland. I want to to be real and livable for the audience as far as the area it takes place in and something they could see really see going on outside of the fiction based story to let them know that though the story isn't real, this is really going on some

where.

THEATRE

I would want my production in the amphitheater because I feel it will give it more of an outside feel. I think it will create more of a realistic vision of the play for the audience. I think the Clark County Amphitheater is a good place because it is outdoors and very large. I think having this production in an area like that will get locals but people from all over because it is near bigger areas and states such as California and Nevada so people could travel and see it as well. Also this wouldn’t be much of a crowd that you would think would attend something like this. I think that because it had a loss of crowd, a moving play such as this would work there as well.

SCENIC DESIGN

My scenic design would be more to the plain side as far as setting and back ground go. I think the bar would be very rustic and rundown looking but still have a decent quality to it. I think we should be able to section off the stage so that we could see the backroom where the girls sleep. I think from there we should be able to see the bar where the people come in. I would slant the entrance of the bar so the audience are able to see the front and the scenes that take place outside of the bar, but also have it sort of cut off so that we don’t see everything, such as the soldiers coming or Mr. Hararri, leaving. As far as the back ground inside the bar I would like it to be sort of a grayish black with broken pieces of wall and a dirty rustic feel also. The outside would have a white back drop so with the lighting change we can see the change of the time of day against the white.

(back room)

COSTUME DESIGN

With costume design I think that the women wouldn’t have any sort of change of clothes except for Sophie, to show that they are poor and would have more of a traditional african clothing wear. For Mama Nadi, I think he clothing should look better than the other girls and be a little more “high class” looking. I would like her to wear a plane skirt and a shirt with jewelry to accent it such as bracelets and necklaces. I would like her to also wear a head wrap too. As for the other girls their clothes look very worn, but I would also like for them to wear the skirts and shirts too but maybe with rips and tears and dirtier looking. Since Josephine seems to be the main girl in the prostitution who knows what shes doing,she seems to be much more sexual. I would have her wear red a shorter skirt and lower cut top to accent her body during nights when the soldiers come. For the soldiers I pictured Osembanga’s soldiers in khaki, very polished get up with badges to represent where they stand. As for the rebels, I picture their outfits to be more worn but a polished look too, and even have red in their clothing or hats to represent who they are.

(the girls)

(head wraps)

(Josephine)

(Mama Nadi)

(Rebels)

(Osembenga, Fortune etc.)

LIGHTING DESIGN

For the lighting design inside, I would want inside Mama Nadi’s bar I would like it too look somewhat florescent-esq but also warn florescent, almost a bit dim with light from the outside too so it’s kind of a mix. At night I think a little less florescent but more candle lit, so a softer warmer tone comes over the bar because it seemed at night that it was livelier and almost like it would get hot around the bar with more and more people arriving. So it also feels happier but almost uncomfortable. Since the show is in an amphitheatre and it’s pretty much outside, the time of day to have it at could be late afternoon into night. I think It would also play off of the lighting and make it stand out as it gets later in the production, since the times of day changes a lot in the play. Natural daylight can be used for daytime with the natural lighting. When there is danger approaching there could be a redness in the light that lights up the stage to create and uncomfortable feeling or any moment that there might be danger or some sort of suspense, like when the soldiers come or the girls are threatened at the ending of the play.

SOUND DESIGN

The mood I would want to create with the sound design would be somewhat cheery with the natural sounds of the nature surrounding the theatre to go with the area of the setting; the music would sound natural and ambient with the ambient sounds. I would want all the music to sound ambient. When mama Nadi is working I would want some popular African music to be playing in the background. When at night the band would come out to play, and the music from the original play that Sophie sings would also be included. It the suspenseful parts I would like drums playing in a fast pace to give the feel of danger an upbeat rhythm and feel to the play. Aside from that I wouldn’t have much more music.

http://janosnovak.com/photo/museum/galleries/austria2004/ruined_wall_big.jpg (front of ruined bar)

http://www.treehugger.com/tropical%20island-jj-001.jpg (somewhere near a place like this)

http://www.eleganttoun.com/images/ladies_contemporary_1.gif (Mamas outfit)

http://www.africaimports.com/images/Step6.jpg (head wraps)

http://www.stockfood.com/images-pictures/African%20women%20pounding%20maize%20%281%29-253045.jpg (womens outfits)

http://www.funkystrawbs.com/Images/Bottoms/14_Lace_Rap_Skirt_Bolera_Red.JPG (josephine)

http://www.ticketwood.com/images/maps/clarkcountyamphitheater_all.gif (apmphitheatre)

http://www.uniforms-4u.com/Productimages/12132/big-u-us-navy-officers-cpos-khaki-uniform-15838.jpg (Osembanga)

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/12/22/a4/inside-the-shack-2.jpg ( back room of shack)

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/12/22/a3/inside-the-shack.jpg

http://blog.nj.com/insidejersey_impact/2008/09/large_oyster.jpg (bar)

http://devilsexcrement.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/mili-206.jpg (rebels)