SET DESIGN

When studying set design and its importance we´ve had to read through different texts to understand the basic functions of set design. When learning the importance it has we realize the true purpose behind a concept and how it might apply to a performance, as we read through the texts we are presented two different approaches the first being a much more general approach to the history of set design through different periods of time, however the second one, written by Adolph Appia, showed a much more in-depth look to set design and its involvement to a performance.

Appia presented a different approach to set design by focusing mostly on the lighting, making us understand something we truly never thought of before, why some elements such as painting wouldnt work on a performance and how does the light effects are able to change the mood in a play. When thinking of the light effects we must understand the setting in which the performance will take place and how will that affect the position of the lights and their audience, in a proscenium arch we might be able to use lights from above and in front of the stage but in a transverse stage it is most likely the designer will have to place the lights in the floor near the audience.

Different approaches have been created for set design , some highlighting a performance in its entirety while others show it incomplete, for Kabuki we are approaching the set design superficially, the play does not look to comprehend human nature or to reflect upon human nature.

Does one of these approaches limits or enhances a play´s importance and value?