The Art of Scenic Design

Robert Mark Morgan is Teaching Professor of Drama and Director of the Beyond Boundaries Program at Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and a Teaching Artist for arts education and consultancy COCAbiz. For 30 years he has designed professionally in the areas of theatre, film, museum, and theme park venues, including for American Conservatory Theatre, the MUNY, Old Globe Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Indiana Repertory Theatre, and the Cleveland Play House.

List of Illustrations
Foreword
Acknowledgements

Introduction: "And Just Like That”
Let’s Recognize the Theatrical Identity Crisis
Rely on Story - Always
Adjacent Possible and the Liminal Space
What Has Changed … and What Has Not

1. The Designer as a Child Futurist
Who I Am and Why You Should Bother to Care
The Creative Adult is the Child Who Survived
Creativity Scars
Take the Risk of Not Knowing
You Are a Designer Everyday
Two Worlds That Collide at the Stage Edge

2. Empathy and Answering "What Story Are We Telling” With Collaborators
The Beginning of the Design Journey — and the Possibility Represented in “What If…”
Creating Creative Space
The Design Jacket and How it Fits (or Does Not Fit) the Play
If/then as a Catalyst for Design Ideas
Renaissance Teams

3. The Importance of Research as ‘Fuel’ for ANY Process
The Playlist of the Mind
Designer as Translator into a Visual Language
Visual Alchemy
Designer as Visual Collector (Bordering on Visual Hoarder)
Get Your Inspiration from ANYwhere!
Responsibility to the Story as a Storyteller
Identifying Patterns
Identify What is Your "Cup of Tea"…and Ignore That
Primary and Secondary Research

4. Clawing and Scratching out an Idea
Design is Messy…and Lose the Boxes
Get Lost in the Woods
Across Space and Time
The Design Digestive System
Avoiding the Self-edit
Your Inner Clown
What is Working…and What Isn’t?
Answering “What if…” with Your Pencil
Space, Time, and the Default Mode Network

5. Modeling and Shaping an Object and an Idea
You are Your Own Instrument
Don’t Tell Me, Show Me
The Saint Joan Saga
The Model: It’s Not Jewelry. Don’t Fall in Love.
Modeling as Prototyping

6. Creative Swings, Career Fields, and Collaboration
Collaboration is Key
The Myth of the Sole Genius
The Path vs the Field
Don’t Fit In. Don’t Try to Fit In.
Q-Theory and the Creative Team
Design as Collaborative Craft

7. The Tech and Preview Process — the Ultimate Proof-of-Concept
Recognize Your Role
A Musical Factory with Lessons to Spare
The Leap of Faith
The Playwright as Prophet
The Promise of the Payoff

8. The Inevitability of Failure and the Sea of Criticism
Courage: The Man (or Woman or Person) in the Arena
Do No Harm, Take No Shit
A Moon for the Misbegotten and the Very Public Failure
Channel the Haters: Prove them Wrong

9. Where Do We Go From Here?
The Certainty of Uncertainty
Take Stock: What has not Changed
Re-think the Theatre Volume: Where Are We…and Where is “Where”?
Don’t Pack Up!

Notes
Further Reading
Index