A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

By William Shakespeare

Mobirise

DESIGN TEAM

Director Louis Rackoff
Co-Scenic Designers Aline Toloto and Stephen Judd
Co-Lighting Designers Katy Baronich and Craig Dettman
Sound Designer Tristan King
Costume Designer Theresa Bush
Associate Costume and Mask Designer Rebecca Earehart
Hair and Makeup Designer Madison Queen
Assistant Hair and Makeup Designer Essence Washington
Compositor Jennifer Glass

VIRTUAL SCENIC TOUR

Midsummer tells a story of love. The plot travels from Athens where the law reigns, throughout the forest, the home of the fairies where the non-sense and magic reigns.
The contrast between the rational world of order vs the irrational world of fantasy was a journey that started with an orderly court garden, passed through the mechanicals world of Quince’s house and finally into the woods.
Once in the forest, the virtual environment gets more and more magical throughout the play. We achieved this through the use of different colors and changes of vegetation, textures and transparencies, and the addition of “fairy lights”.
Above all things, the production challenges our imagination and provides a safe place to dream and laugh together.

INSPIRATIONAL IMAGES

Mobirise

CREATIVE PROCESS

Software: SketchUp and Lumion 11

Three worlds connected by a path: the royal, the mechanicals and the fairies.

Organic and magical atmosphere for the fairy land.

Rational, symmetric garden representing Athens.

The whole company at the end in the empty Tatum Theatre.

The chosen Palace connected to the Court Garden.

The spiral creates a visual connection between the rational and the fantasy world.

Quince's house was supposed to be a simple space, inspired by a cabin with stone floor.

In the last scene we come to the court garden again but now there is a festive and magical sense.

VIRTUAL PROPS VS REAL PROPS

Using green cubes as a seating in the pods, we were able to use virtual furniture and composite two actors seating in the same bench.
The scenic team selected the bench below and digitally modeled it to use in the production.
Software: SketchUp and Lumion.

Reference image.

White model.

Rendered and inserted bench in the environment.

Screenshot of the production of two actors seated at the same bench.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Stephen Judd started the scenic design process when the production was a traditional theatre stage production. Because of COVID, we switched to a virtual live stream performance I was invited to join the team to co-design. We started the process again, keeping in mind a different perspective that the virtual world could offer in which we inserted live actors into the virtual environment.

Video Editor Katy Baronich

To meet the requirements of COVID-19 safety guidelines, two theaters were used for this production in a hybrid format. In the Hartwig Theatre were built the pods, which were also used for the last year in all the virtual productions. The pods were isolated spaces equipped with everything the actors would need to perform. The Tatum Theatre was shown by video recording in the beginning of the play, where Puck invited the audience to a journey. The Tatum reappeared in the last act when the masked cast performed together live and socially distanced. According to the director the live theatre space at the end was a moment of celebration and a bridge that would connect virtual theatre with a new beginning for traditional live theatre, after the pandemic.*
Click here for more Virtual Theatre information

PodCAST

Pods designed by Jay Morris

A new way of making virtual theater

Besides how challenging the last year was, it was rewarding being part of a team that decided to keep producing theatre.

PRODUCTION PICTURES

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