DOLLHOUSEBY: REBECCA

GILMAN

Director: Wendy C. Goldburg

Group 22: Randi Gentry, Marina Sachtouras, Kevin Swanson and Michael Sullivan

I am looking for each of my characters to have a sense of humor because for the play I want to enhance the comedy of the play. Since there are many roles

in play, I have chosen to cast five for what I feel are the main characters of the play.

James Franco as Terry

He has had his share roles of serious characters and funny characters, in that case he is perfect for the part of Terry.

Jenna Fischer as Kristine

She can play both humorous characters and serious, intellectual characters. I feel like she has potential to be the best actor to play Kristine.

Kal Penn as Raj

Although he has played comedy roles, he also is seems to be open minded and strong minded enough to play the serious role of Raj.

Jennifer Aniston as Nora

She has played in serious roles before and in comedy movies also. Being dramatic is certain scenes will be easy for her as in most movies she’s played in, her character tends

to be like that of how Nora acts in the play.

Ben Stiller as Pete

He gives off a humorous side but is also extremely dramatic and can be serious when needed in certain scenes.

CASTING

Naturalism

Attempts to put onstage an exact copy of life as possible, down to the smallest detail

Ex: money issues within the play, acted out as how life is like when dealing with debt.

STYLE

Debt/ Materialism

The main action of the play is surrounded by the struggling of debt but being materialistic.

Ex: Nora wants more money, while her husband is in need of continuing to work harder to get out of debt.

Also, main reason for the tension in the play

SPINE

Materialism

Wanting materialistic things

Ex: Nora’s love for buying things

Debt

Working hard but not getting anywhere

Ex: Terry stuck in debt even though he is working, Nora wanting to buy more things

Comedy

Has a silly air to the play

Ex: Although with struggle, there is a sense of humor with it all

Dilemmas

Wanting something you can’t have and having to give things up

Ex: Nora’s family wanting things but they have to sacrifice to get what they want

THEME

Let a play develop slowly and let it happen

Show every point of view of an issue in each scene

Make it as close to reality as possible

Want people to connect to the characters situations

DIRECTORIAL CONCEPT

By: Michael Sullivan

LIGHTING DESIGN

The front upward lighting fades in down onto the stage to reveal the living space

There is additional side lighting coming in through the set windows in a slight yellow tint to give the implication

of it being daytime

The side lighting is shining from both sides and landing on all the expensive decorum to draw attention to the

theme of materialism in the play

There are light fixtures throughout the set such as lamps and chandeliers that are turned as characters walk into rooms in accompaniment with lighting from the stage

front floor angled toward the actors to reveal their faces

ACT I

A soft edged spotlight fades in on Nora when she counts the money to draw attention to her money obsession but fades when Kristine enters

A sharp edged spotlight shines down on Kristine and Nora when they are talking to show that important context is being discussed and

continues but widens when Pete enters the conversation and fades once Terry enters

A sharp edged spotlight shines on Nora and the kids as they tickle and play as well as the surrounding lighting dims which allows for Raj to

walk into the entryway without being easily noticed by the audience and then fades to normal lighting to create a surprising entrance

A soft edged spotlight with a very slight red slide on it shines on Raj when he is talking to Nora to show his bad intentions

The lights fade out slowly to end Act I to cause the audience to focus on the last comments made by Terry and emphasize his treatment of Nora.

ACT I CONT.

As the light fades downward onto the stage in there is once again yellow light coming in from the window and falling on the decorum to emphasize the theme of materialism and show that it is daytime

The stage lights turn on illuminating the faces of the actors

There is a soft edged spot light on Nora placing focus on her actions

The light fixtures in the rooms that are occupied are on

When Nora begins talking to Kristine a sharp edged spotlight shines on them to emphasize the lack of connection between Nora and Terry that fades back to normal at the end of the discussion

When a Nora and Terry are talking a soft edged spotlight shines on them to draw attention to the shallow nature of Terry and becomes a sharp edged spotlight when they begin to disagree but fades out

to normal light after Terry leaves

ACT II

A soft edged spotlight focuses in on Pete and Nora as they begin to talk about his possible death and changes to a sharp edged

spotlight when Pete confesses his love to Nora and finally back to soft edged spotlight when Terry enters then fades to normal

lighting

When Raj enters a soft edged slightly red spotlight is on him again to show his bad intentions and even show danger

A light blue sharp edged spotlight falls on Nora as she delivers the monologue to Kristine to give a semblance of old hope

A soft edged spotlight shines on Nora when she begins to dance and changes to a sharp edged spotlight as her dance becomes

more like a lap dance but quickly fades to normal lighting when Kristine speaks

The lights fade quickly to end ACT II in order to emphasize how quickly the events had just transpired

ACT II CONT.

When the light fades in the only light is on Kristine and Raj in the entryway and from the fixture above them. The rest of the light is extremely dim to draw a great amount of emphasis and

drama to their conversation and the light goes almost completely black around them when Kristine gives her

monologue

The lights slowly start to dim as Terry tries to take advantage of Nora but then jolt to full light when she yells

There is a sharp edged spotlight on Pete and Terry when the struggle to add to the drama

When Terry Finds out about the debt a sharp edged spotlight shines on him and follows him around. It slowly fades to normal lighting when he gets the phone call from Raj

ACT III

A soft edged and slightly red spotlight appears when Nora announces she is leaving and Terry begins yelling to focus

in on the fight and Terry’s nature to mistreat Nora. The spotlight fades to normal lighting when Nora stops and

returns

The lights slowly fade out at the close of the play

ACT III CONT.

By: Kevin Swanson

SET DESGIN

The Dollhouse screenplay takes place within the Christmas and New Years time of the year. Our set needs to resemble a feeling of

winter comfort. Christmas trees, stockings, lights and presents should fill the room to get the point across to our audience. The

coat rack should be full of warm clothes with the windows showing a winter climate from the inside looking out.

SEASON

Our play’s set is very family oriented and needs to be obvious at first glance. There should be family pictures on the wall and an

abundance of gifts under the tree. This will lessen the chance of any suspicion from the audience to make the play more believable.

Act two and three both lead up to New Years Eve so the environment should start looking more festive as they get ready for the party in

Act 3. Party accessories should be scattered around the room to give off a welcoming yet informal mood.

ENVIRONMENT

The Dollhouse play specifies that the home was decorated with very modern/semi-expensive taste. The set should look like it was taken

straight out of a popular home décor magazine and show that whoever decorated the house spent time and money to make it look just right. The audience should feel the central image of materialism when they

first see the set due to the overall focus on the brand names and above average decorations.

CENTRAL IMAGE/STYLE

It is important that our actors aren’t confined to a small space and that our audience can see the majority of their bodies at any point on stage. The furniture needs to be spaced out so each actor can move around with comfort. In reality, no matter how cluttered a home, residents don’t need to watch their step very often because they are familiar with the furniture placement. If our actors are continuously looking down to keep from tripping, it will throw off the overall reality of the play.

SET SPACING

By: Randi Gentry

COSTUME DESIGN

In Act 1, the characters will be wearing something modern but, also classy. Since the play’s setting is around the

Christmas and New Year holidays, we will also correlate our outfits with a holiday theme.

Nora-

ACT 1

Since Iris is the maid, she will be wearing something laid back that she can work in.

Terry- to add to the holiday spirit, he will wear this

stunning red coat with all back underneath.

Pete- will also keep the holiday

spirit around and he will be

wearing this lovely green coat with

white button up and grey pants.

Kristin will be wearing a red cocktail dress to correspond with our holiday theme.

Martha and the kids came in from being out in the cold. So, they will be wearing warm clothes.

Martha-

Max- Macey-

Skylar-

Our actors will be wearing just something warm and simple for this act.

Nora- Martha-

Kristin- Pete-

Terry- He first starts off wearing a suit and then soon after he changes into a sweater and a pair of pants.

During this act, Kristin and Raj are at the house. So, they will be dressed causal but, Nora, Pete and Terry have been

at a costume party so, they will be dressed as their characters. Nora as Jennifer Beals from Flashdance. Pete as

Pee-wee Harmon. Terry as Ronald Reagan.

ACT 3

Kristin- Raj-

Nora- Pete-

Terry-

And this concludes our PowerPoint!