Faculty Sponsor(s)
Tyrone Marshall
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
Subject Area
Theatre
Description
This poster showcases a scenic design for Talley’s Folly by Lanford Wilson. The play takes place in a riverside boathouse located near a farm in Lebanon, Missouri, on July 4, 1944. In developing the design concept, I pursued the Victorian and Gothic revival gingerbread imagery and romantic aesthetic Wilson created within the script.
During my early research, I found Thomas W. Schaller’s paintings Evening in Spring and Fishing in Central Park. Schaller’s blending of watercolors inspired the romantic aesthetic and unification of the landscape’s colors, textures, and inorganic and organic structures. The way in which Schaller conveys peace, seclusion, and nature very much influenced the design. Evening skies and earthy tones determined the color scheme.
The gazebo’s hexagonal shape influenced the symmetrical, central, and simple layout of scenery, with the riverside open to the audience in thrust formation. The turntable provides a unique element in the design. Moving very slowly throughout Matt’s opening monologue, the physical change mirrors the movement of the text and facilitates the transition from the exterior of the boathouse to an interior view that focuses the fourth-wall staging of the rest of the play.
Presented at the 2017 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VII Conference in Denver, Colorado, the design model and associated poster received a Meritorious Achievement Award in the Non-Realized Scenic Design division.
Recommended Citation
Hurst, Savannah N., "A Scenic Design for Talley's Folly" (2017). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 47.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2017/all/47
A Scenic Design for Talley's Folly
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
This poster showcases a scenic design for Talley’s Folly by Lanford Wilson. The play takes place in a riverside boathouse located near a farm in Lebanon, Missouri, on July 4, 1944. In developing the design concept, I pursued the Victorian and Gothic revival gingerbread imagery and romantic aesthetic Wilson created within the script.
During my early research, I found Thomas W. Schaller’s paintings Evening in Spring and Fishing in Central Park. Schaller’s blending of watercolors inspired the romantic aesthetic and unification of the landscape’s colors, textures, and inorganic and organic structures. The way in which Schaller conveys peace, seclusion, and nature very much influenced the design. Evening skies and earthy tones determined the color scheme.
The gazebo’s hexagonal shape influenced the symmetrical, central, and simple layout of scenery, with the riverside open to the audience in thrust formation. The turntable provides a unique element in the design. Moving very slowly throughout Matt’s opening monologue, the physical change mirrors the movement of the text and facilitates the transition from the exterior of the boathouse to an interior view that focuses the fourth-wall staging of the rest of the play.
Presented at the 2017 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VII Conference in Denver, Colorado, the design model and associated poster received a Meritorious Achievement Award in the Non-Realized Scenic Design division.
