Often scene designers start with a collage, cutouts, material and other small things glued to a piece of paper. What the designers choose to put on the collage will symbolize, stand for, the characters and what they want in the play.

Let’s think about things to show that the main character is lost in a strange place. We chose a gray background because it seemed sad. Then we found pictures of lots of closed doors and glued them on the paper. This made us think that the character doesn’t know which one to choose. It’s kind of scary and sad.


Lost!

Now it’s your turn.

You’ll need:

• An 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. It can be colored paper or paper that you paint.
• Magazines with pictures you can cut out
• Scissors
• Paper for cutouts
• Crayons or paint for the background and the cutouts
• Glue

Now that you’ve gathered your things, you need to:

• Think about where the play takes place and who’s in the play
• Think about the color for the background. You want a color that will show how the characters feel.
• Choose colored paper or paint the paper for the background
• Look through the magazines to find pictures that show what is important to the characters. Choose things that show what they like to do, what they want and how they feel.
• Glue down the pictures
• Check the collage. Is there anything else you want to add? Perhaps you can find it in the magazine. Or perhaps you want to draw and color it. Then cut it out and glue it on your collage.
• Share your collage with the class.
• Show your collage to the class. Explain how the objects in the collage tell about, symbolize the characters and what is happening in the play.

Miriam’s bedroom

Rendering of setting for Miriam’s bedroom