Moliere's
Scapin
Direction and Mask Design by Alyssa
Ravenwood ~ Feb. 2004, Portland
OR
Winner of the 2004 Portland Theatre Drammy Award for Outstanding
Achievement in Mask Design
~ Masks from Scapin are available for sale at www.ravenwoodmasks.com.
~
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| Production
Notes and Photos: |
to: Rehearsal
Diary and Photos |
| Mask
Design for Scapin
I made 13 masks for Scapin. The process begins with casting
the actor’s face so the mask can be sculpted to fit
them perfectly. The victim, um… I mean Actor, first
rubs Vaseline all over his face. This is a pathetic attempt
to keep the plaster from ripping out all of his eyelashes.
Then he lies completely still while cold, wet plaster is laid
over his face.
Pictured: Toby Lawrence is almost finished.
There are ten dedicated and patient actors in Scapin. Thanks
to all of them. Special thanks to Emmy McGowan for her help
with the face casts. |
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| Pictured below: The mask of Geronte as a clay
sculpture, unpainted neoprene,and a finished mask. |
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| Costume Design
for Scapin |
Scapin was
written by Moliere in 1671. Moliere was inspired by the characters
of Commedia Dell’Arte. Traditional Commedia is racy
and rude. Moliere tamed the wild beast of Commedia and made
it acceptable for the conservative audiences of his day. In
1997 celebrated clown Bill Irwin and Mark O’Donnell
adapted Scapin. Their version brings back the rowdy energy
of street Commedia.
The script is a combination of a period setting with modern
jokes. I wanted the design of the show to reflect this combination
of old and new. We looked for inspiration in modern children’s
storybooks. I am fond of Lane Smith’s illustrations
for books like ”Pinocchio the Boy” and “The
Stinky Cheese Man.” Rachel Myers and I also spent time
looking at German Expressionist paintings. The geometric shapes
of both these styles combined with traditional commedia characters
became the foundation of our designs.
Costume design for Leander by Rachel Myers. > |
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From
Rachel Myers, Costume Designer:
“Leander
is like a bullfighter, very sexually driven and passionate.
This translated to his costume in the style, fit and cropping
of his jacket. His hat was inspired by Lane Smith illustrations
and his color palette was from a German Expressionist painting.
I wanted his shoulders to be accentuated like a football player
and for him to have tight pants accentuating his groin and pelvic
movements.” |
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< Costume design for Argante
by Rachel Myers.
“The changes in influence and progressions in my collaboration
with Alyssa were exciting. I feel that together we pushed
the look of the show. We started with the Lane Smith shapes.
Their geometry and angularity were interesting, but I thought
they didn't allow for the audience to see the beautiful shapes
the actors were making with their bodies. In the end one of
my greatest inspirations was from the character references
used by the actors. In Alyssa's work the actors referenced
animals that influenced their movement and body posture. This
was extremely helpful. It gave me an idea of how the actors
moved and I was able to reference the look and character traits
of the animals.
In the case of Argante, Alyssa described Madeleine Sanford’s
movement as a bendy, lean spider. Her costume developed from
looking at pictures of spiders, their long linked limbs and
brightly colored center. Madeleine is double jointed. Her
Argante bends in interesting ways and sticks out his butt.
We thought it would be funny to pad the butt and joints. This
would make Argante look like an arthritic, lecherous creature.
The effect is highly comedic.” -Rachel Myers |
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Rehearsal diary and photos page ONE
To: Rehearsal diary and photos
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