Artist Interview: Meghan Jones, Scenic Designer
How do we fit pratfalls, soda sprays, and a sultry tango on one intimate stage in DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER? Ask the scenic designer.
The physical comedy of farce demands a very particular physical space. Farce thrives on the appearance of chaos, but in order for that dizzying comedy to be effective it must be tightly controlled. The set, furniture, and other props have to work together to make it easy for the actors to perform their choreography — while seeming to get in their way at every turn. It’s largely the job of the scenic designer to create that physical world. For Lantern Theater Company’s spring 2018 production of Don’t Dress for Dinner, that designer was longtime Lantern artistic collaborator Meghan Jones.
“Farce is mainly for me about movement and timing. So if I cannot provide that within my groundplan, then the show becomes less of a comedy,” Jones noted. So how does she design a set that allows for all of that constant — and specific — motion?
To create the converted barn where the characters slam doors, swap rooms, and spill drinks, Jones first had to decide how to make it all fit into the Lantern’s intimate performance space. “I was considering how the actors will move through the space in relationship to the audience,” Jones said. “The biggest challenge was trying to fit a huge French barn, with the capacity of five different entrances, in a space that is roughly 20'x20'.”
Though a larger, more traditional performance space might have meant easier work for Jones, the design challenge of fitting all the necessary exits and entrances on the Lantern’s stage intrigued her. “The fun became how to trick and squeeze all those elements together,” Jones said. “If we were on a large proscenium-style stage, I think my mind might have defaulted to more pedestrian solutions.”
Once the walls were up, the doors were placed, and the levels were built, the prop master’s work of decorating the set, placing the furniture, and picking the props began. This, too, involved careful consideration of the actors’ bodies and movement tracks, as well as the timing necessary for physical comedy. The team’s job was then to make sure those elements harmonized with Jones’ designed environment.
On Don’t Dress for Dinner, Jones worked closely with props master Sara Outing and director Kathryn MacMillan to “really cater to what is being born in the rehearsal process, making sure everything translates well with the set as architecturally designed,” said Jones. This process started well before rehearsals and continued until the lights went down on opening night. In working with the props master, Jones said “We sat down with a furniture and decor book that I put together with suggestions and research of items that I would like for the finished set.”
It couldn’t all be decided ahead of time, though. Comedic bits were developed in the rehearsal room that sometimes required different furniture pieces or hand props, so flexibility was key. “Sometimes we have to change items because the actor is now doing a different movement, and we need something similar to better support that new movement,” Jones said. “So the conversation between props, set, and stage management is constantly evolving throughout the rehearsal process.”
For a show like Don’t Dress for Dinner, that set and props conversation took some pretty fun turns. For example, the actors needed to know which furniture they could climb up and stand on, and which could withstand being soaked with water. A phone cord needed to be the right color to match the scenic design, but also have just the right length and elasticity to feature in a fight. Props master Outing had to determine the best way to represent sauce velouté, considering both the reality of the color, the consistency that would be funniest when spilled, and the realistic concerns of the mess, both in terms of stains and slipping. Both the set and the props had to work on multiple levels: what’s right aesthetically, comedically, and practically.
Ultimately, it’s all in the service of building a show that seems effortlessly funny, and Jones saw the physical environment of the play as integral to that effort. “The audience wants to see a comedy,” she said. “I tweak where necessary in conjunction with the director to make the production as funny as possible.”
Don’t Dress for Dinner is onstage at the Lantern May 24 through June 24, 2018. Visit our website for tickets and information.
