Production of Much Ado About Nothing

Costume Design: Tracey GriffithDirector: Adam Celia

Set Design: Preston LovellGroup 57

Costume Design

Beatrice• Beatrice is a fiery, independent

woman. She has a very strong will and is not afraid to speak her mind, as is shown in her witty banter with Benedick.

• Beatrice also has a less pronounced side of affection and vulnerability as is shown when she falls in love with Benedick, whom she originally claimed to hate.

• Beatrice’s costume should have mixed shades of red. A stronger red should be used in the majority of the costume to represent her fiery personality, while a few smaller areas of a more subdued red, or even white or pink, will represent the less pronounced softer side to her personality. The material should also be fairly rigid to represent her somewhat rigid personality.

--“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”

Hero• Hero is gentle, innocent, and

soft-spoken. This is a strong contrast to Beatrice’s personality.

• Ideally, Hero’s gown should be white, since it is usually associated with innocence. Light pastel colors would also work well to portray hero’s soft-spoken and gentle personality. Her dress should be more conservative than Beatrice’s. Also, the material could also have a softer, more flowing look that Beatrice’s to further portray the gentleness of her personality.

--“In mine eye she is the sweetest lady that ever I looked on.”

Benedick• Benedick, like Beatrice has a

fiery personality, is always making witty remarks, and believes he will never fall in love or be married.

• Benedick’s character undergoes a dramatic change after allowing himself to love Beatrice, as well as challenging Claudio to a deal after he speaks against Hero’s character, even though he himself said at the beginning of the play that all women were unfaithful.

• Benedick’s costume should have hints of red to represent his strong personality as well as his relationship with Beatrice. It should be more vibrant in color than Claudio’s and have a contrasting color to represent his change in character.

--“Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none. And the fine is, for the which I may

go the finer, I will live a bachelor.”

Claudio• Claudio is a well respected soldier.

He has a more gentle personality like Hero, but does not have her innocence. His suspicious nature leads him to assume the worst of Hero, and even slander her character by leaving her at the alter.

• Claudio is also softer-spoken than Benedick and has no aversion to love as he quickly falls in love with Hero.

• His costume should be light and colorful, but not totally white since he does not have Hero’s innocence. It should also be less colorful/vibrant than Benedick’s, since his personality is less fiery. Although both costumes will be lighter in color, Claudio’s relationship to Hero should be further represented by a matching fabric or color from Hero’s costume.

--“He hath borne himself beyond the promise of his age, doing in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion. He hath indeed better bettered

expectation than you must expect of me to tell you how.”

Don John• While the other costumes

should be light and colorful to fit in with the genre of comedy, as the villain Don John should have the only dark costume. It should be in shades of black or gray. Other colors would work as long they are very dark, but white or vibrant colors should not be used.

• His costume should also be less extravagant, with a lower class of fabric, since as a bastard he does not have the social status of the rest of the characters in the play.

--“There is no measure in the occasion that breeds. Therefore the sadness is without limit.”

Cast

Hero (Jennifer Lawrence)

• We chose Jennifer Lawrence for the part of Hero because of her wide variety of roles that she has done well in.

• Jennifer Lawrence has experience playing in romantic comedies such as in Silver Linings Playbook. Much Ado About Nothing is essentially a romantic comedy, so she has experience in that regard. Also, since she has played a wide variety of roles, we believe she could take on the role of the more gentle hero.

Benedick (David Tennant)

• David Tennant has experience with Shakespearian plays with both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.

• He also plays the doctor in Dr. Who, who is an extremely witty character making him a perfect match for Benedick.

Claudio (Liev Schreiber)

• Claudio is a soldier. We think Leiv Schreiber's experience in Broadway and his experience as an action star makes him a great fit for the role.

Beatrice (Emma Watson)

• Beatrice is a character that is in a war of wits against Benedick.

• We believe Emma Watson can play a perfect witty niece based off her performance as Hermione in the Harry Potter movies.

Don Pedro (Nathan Lane)

• Don Pedro is a powerful character. He manipulates people into getting what he wants.

• We picked Nathan Lane due to his known talent and due to the fact that he looks like a powerful person.

Leonato (Ian McKellen)

• Leonato is a wise, elderly character. He is a father figure in the play.

• Ian McKellen is a well suited actor to play an elderly character. He has a charisma to him that only someone of his age can pull off.

Direction

• The genre of the play is a comedy. It will be light hearted for the most part and enjoyable to watch.

• It will highlight the feeling of needing to be married as a part of a social stigma and inheritance.

• Ultimately it will be focused comedy and will use wit to keep the pacing of the play quick and smooth.

Set Design• How the stage will look.

• inspirations

Stage/scene

How it will look• The stage is meant to resemble an old style

garden with lots of color from the surrounding shrubbery. The bright colors will help to set the mood as a comedy. The floor will be painted to look like it is made of laid cobblestone. In the back there will be a raised platform for a change in height for the stage. There is only one entrance and exit found in stage right.

Reasoning• We chose a garden because we wanted

something small that would still have space for actors to be able to move around stage. The stage itself is meant to be functional for both day and night time setting. While the stage is small, it is complex with many precise details that bring it together. The only issue with this particular stage setup is the single entrance and exit.

Lighting

color color

Dim yellow

Dim yellow

Dim yellow

How it will look?• The “x’s” on the slide before represent the focal

area for which the lights will be positioned at during the play. While there is only one “x” in each spot there will be two lights pointing a that spot for day and night scenes. During day scenes the lights will be a mix of four flood lights for soft, bright, and wide spread light for all of the stage and an ellipsoidal spotlight for a sharp edge of light in the center.

Reasoning• Because the stage is not very large it require very

small amounts of light to illuminate it for day scenes and even less for night scenes. The center spot light is meant create a focal point in the center of the stage where actors will spend most of their time.

Blueprint

Entra-

nce

Stage front

right left

bench

ShrubsEct.