Creative Process

Normally the design process for Off-Loop theatre goes something like this. Hire a scenic designer at the last possible moment, she or he has a few brief meetings with the director to discuss vision, and there are some drawings or a white model ready for the first production meeting. The process usually works out well and everyone is generally happy.

Once, however, the scenic designer walked into the first production meeting with a full 1/2" color model; all done and beautifully painted. The designer obviously had spent a lot of time working on it and built it to perfections. The director was so surprised he didn't know what to say - that the model became the final design and that was the end of the discussion.

What the director didn't know what this is simply how the designer "thinks." Where other designers might do some basic drawings, show research, or have a conversation with you, this particular one builds models - and very good ones at that. The model was just the literal expression of his initial idea. He would have been happy to have gone back and build a second, third, fourth, or fifth just to work through the process. But the director was so shocked to see what he thought was a finished design that he didn't offer any feedback at all.

Just remember that theatre is a collaborative art. Every element is just as important as another. As long as budget and time don't get in your way, take the time to explore all possibilities with your team of artists before setting on the final way of telling your story. You never know what may surprise you.