Faculty Sponsor(s)
Tyrone Marshall
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
Subject Area
Theatre
Description
This poster showcases a scenic design for Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson, which was presented by Linfield Theatre in November 2017. Ada and the Engine tells the story of Ada Lovelace as the British Industrial Revolution dawns in England. Ada meets Charles Babbage, a noted mathematician, inventor, and mechanical engineer, and together they invent the Analytical Machine. This machine is the world’s first functional computer using punch cards for programming. Lauren Gunderson notes that the action takes place during the Victorian Era in the houses of intellectual elites. Keeping Gunderson’s notes in mind, the design took a modernist approach. In thinking about how the evolution of the machine mirrored the ebb of the characters’ relationships and served as both focus of and metaphor for the play, the design concept placed the action of the play within the analytical machine itself.
At the end of the script, the machine comes to life, engulfing Ada and her reality in music and machinery. Ada begins to command the machine by singing. To visualize the operation of the Analytical Machine, mechanical pulleys and cranks were incorporated within the design. The large columns upstage rotated 360 degrees, the vertical stacks behind the columns moved up and down, the burgundy gear centered upstage turned on a motorized turntable, and the grey-toned crank placed downstage left was cranked manually. Black light and glow paint were used to add to the visual spectacle effect at the very end of the play.
Ms. Hurst received a Meritorious Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for the scenic design for Ada and the Engine. The ½” scale model and associated poster conveying research images and concepts were presented at the 2018 Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival Region VII Conference in Spokane, Washington. The presentation received a Meritorious Achievement Award in the Realized Scenic Design competition.
Recommended Citation
Hurst, Savannah N., "A Scenic Design for Ada and the Engine" (2018). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 59.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2018/all/59
A Scenic Design for Ada and the Engine
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
This poster showcases a scenic design for Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson, which was presented by Linfield Theatre in November 2017. Ada and the Engine tells the story of Ada Lovelace as the British Industrial Revolution dawns in England. Ada meets Charles Babbage, a noted mathematician, inventor, and mechanical engineer, and together they invent the Analytical Machine. This machine is the world’s first functional computer using punch cards for programming. Lauren Gunderson notes that the action takes place during the Victorian Era in the houses of intellectual elites. Keeping Gunderson’s notes in mind, the design took a modernist approach. In thinking about how the evolution of the machine mirrored the ebb of the characters’ relationships and served as both focus of and metaphor for the play, the design concept placed the action of the play within the analytical machine itself.
At the end of the script, the machine comes to life, engulfing Ada and her reality in music and machinery. Ada begins to command the machine by singing. To visualize the operation of the Analytical Machine, mechanical pulleys and cranks were incorporated within the design. The large columns upstage rotated 360 degrees, the vertical stacks behind the columns moved up and down, the burgundy gear centered upstage turned on a motorized turntable, and the grey-toned crank placed downstage left was cranked manually. Black light and glow paint were used to add to the visual spectacle effect at the very end of the play.
Ms. Hurst received a Meritorious Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for the scenic design for Ada and the Engine. The ½” scale model and associated poster conveying research images and concepts were presented at the 2018 Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival Region VII Conference in Spokane, Washington. The presentation received a Meritorious Achievement Award in the Realized Scenic Design competition.
