Accepted into the ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL PUPPET FESTIVAL,
Istanbul , Turkey, 2013
Anton Chekhov’s The Proposal is a farcical look at love, marriage, conflict, and convenience set in __th century Russia. Russia presents an interesting opportunity in that it is both European and Asian. Not completely embracing one or the other in its entirety – it is truly both East and West.
I wanted to embrace this clash in the scenic design, so my research focused on combining the naturalistic perspective of European art with the more abstracted perspective of Central Asian art. With the production being performed with puppets, focusing on these conflicting dynamics seemed especially appropriate. The end result is reminiscent of, and owes much to, German Abstraction and the Neo-Russian Art movements of the early 20th century. It is never at ease but, like the characters of the play, it reflects tension and intensity – poised, perhaps, to explode or collapse at any moment.
PUPPET DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
ANTON CHEKHOV’S THE PROPOSAL VIDEO
* Note that all photos were taken from an elevated area. The gap between the downstage area and the upstage area was not visible from the audience.