University of Oklahoma School of Drama

Weitzenhoffer Theatre

November 14 - 23, 2014

Directed by:  Dr. Judith Pender

Scenic Designer:  Annalise V. Caudle

Costume Designer:  Elizabeth Snider

Sound Designer:  Matthew Barnard

 

 

Little Women is Louisa May Alcott’s signature novel about the March sisters.  The play takes us through their lives from adolescence into early adulthood, their life experiences teaching each other and our audience important themes of personal integrity.

 

There is a lovely naturalness about this piece that I took to immediately.  The approach was like the passage of a season, with costumes shifting by the seasons to musical accompaniment.  The play needed to unfold for our audience like a book, each chapter telling something new and wonderful.

 

My research began with houses of the time period, looking at the interiors under different times of the day.  In particular, I wanted to capture the feeling of home in each aspect of the story.  Annalise’s scenic design had a clear delineation of the interior and exterior, and I did a lot of research on the exterior conditions so I could frame that outlying world in the right color and feel.

 

There is a light-hearted beauty to this piece that I wanted to keep, and so I used very little saturated color.  Subtle shifts in the color of the top light would change the mood of any given section of the piece.  In particular, I spent time focusing on Jo’s attic, making it a cozy sanctum for her thoughts.  Just the right amount of texture added at places kept the feel of the lighting from being too clean.  The outlying exterior world was lit with completely different colors and angles, creating a distinct contrast.

 

This play is such a familiar tale to many.  Because of this, the design approach had to be honest, it had to capture the emotional quality of each part of the story without being heavy-handed.  It had to capture a bit of the magic of the holidays as well.  It was an immense pleasure to create this design.