Overview

I created a scenic design package for a play adaption of Lewis Carrol's poem, “Jabberwocky” in February 2017. The final design package included a white model, multiple sheets of stage drafting, a concept collage, and a paint elevation.

Description

I used the idea of a looking glass mirror throughout my entire design process. This idea originally came from an image I saw from a statue in England of Alice climbing through a reflective sheet of glass. I used that image as the starting point of my extensive research. I found myself drawn towards the shades of blue in stained glass windows and stained glass pieces that depicted forests, particularly of birch and aspen trees. I also found a variety of images that used electric blue lights, dark mirrored floors, and blue glass that kept with my aesthetic. This created a well-lit scene that still felt thematically dark and foreign. I incorporated these images into a collage and experimented with flipping and mirroring the images to create a cohesive, multi-dimensional scene.

I read multiple interpretations of the “Jabberwocky” poem with different interpretations of definitions for Carroll’s nonsense words. One source claimed that “tum-tum” was Victorian slang for the sound of a stringed instrument. I decided to make the Tum Tum tree the centerpiece of my design and based it on a willow tree. All the leaves of the tree will be made of string to mimic the strings of an instrument. The strings will be pulled tight and will be anchored both to the floor and to the tree. The strings will look like a string art installation piece and will keep the same blue color scheme with various shades of blue string.

There are two characters in this play: the narrator and the hero. The narrator is an older father figure to the hero, who is a teenage boy. This production is serious, dark, and dangerous. The narrator sends the hero off to defeat a vicious enemy, the Jabberwocky. My Jabberwocky is a different shape than Tenniel’s original Jabberwocky illustration but still maintains the similar lithe, savage, and alien appearance. In order to defeat such a dangerous creature, the vorpal blade must be visually impressive and look large enough to effectively cut off the Jabberwocky’s head. The Jabberwocky is hiding offstage until the hero finds him under the Tum Tum Tree. The Jabberwocky will gradually appear weaving through the upstage trees while the hero stands in thought until he jumps out at the hero and the audience with his flame-red eyes lit up. The hero kills the Jabberwocky because it has been terrorizing and destroying parts of the hero’s home and has injured the narrator. The hero will grab the Jabberwocky from the large horns and spikes on the Jabberwocky’s head. Both the hero and the narrator will celebrate after the Jabberwocky is defeated, but the severed head will make the celebration appear grotesque and will unnerve the audience.

The Tum Tum tree will be onstage for the entirety of the performance but will not come into focus until the hero confronts the Jabberwocky. The tall trees will also remain on stage and all characters will weave between them throughout the play. The creatures that the narrator mentions, such as the Jub Jub Bird and the Bandersnatch, will also be in this production. The hero will encounter them as he searches for the Jabberwocky.

Pictures