Tina Bicat - Costume and Design for Devised and Physical Theatre

(Photo: Lisette Barlow)

These, and hundreds of other problems, present themselves during the design and making process of any production that calls for unusual movement or circumstance . Many of them are not apparent before rehearsals start because most of this sort of work is created through the devising process in the rehearsal room. But it is a great help to be prepared, and to invent designs that are sympathetic to the physical needs of the performer.

It is easy to forget, in the busy and engrossing work of making theatre, how much work the audience does in interpreting what they see and hear. They can be made up of theatrically experienced people and those who have never been to a performance before. We may put our ideas on the stage for them to see, but they interpret them each in their own particular way using their own particular experience and interest. Our ideas, which seem so solid and important to us as we turn them into words and music, sights and sounds, are only suggestions, and we have to trust the audience to enlarge them into reality.

The setting in which the performers play their parts is the first thing that the audience sees, and helps their understanding of, and involvement in, the show. It gives people confidence that their interpretation is on the right lines, or tells them if they can allow their mind to create a more abstract world. The set is the frame and the context for the costume designers work. Physical theatre tends to make the most of any available stage space for the movement of the actors. The setting has to allow for this, which can mean that there is not much room for the actual set, and the costume and objects or props have to work together with the lighting to do the sets job. The performers and the lighting designer are the people who give it life.

Without light the world that the designer makes for the performers and the audience is lifeless. In a controlled theatre space, where the light of any mood and place can be created, the audiences attention is focused directly on the action. In the open air in the daytime the designer has to design for Gods lighting, which is less reliable though often no less theatrical. The first consideration will be the quality of the natural light. This depends on the country, the time of day, and where the sun is in the sky at the time of the performance. In some parts of the world this is reliable for example July in the South of France is usually flooded with light. Northern climates can be more problematic, however, and colour has to be clear enough to show up in a grey, soft light if nature does not choose to give you the light you hope for when you want it.

Rehearsals for a devised performance are not the same as those for a performance that is script led. It is quite usual for this rehearsal period to be a research and development (R & D) time. This means that the end result of this particular period will be either a short, rudimentary performance, possibly to attract future funding, or a springboard to the discussions and development of the finished work. These sessions are invaluable to the designer. The cast may not be the final choice for the performance, and much of the content will be unformed and experimental. But the style the company will work in, the atmosphere they hope to create on stage, and the reality or otherwise of the world they are inventing, will be clear.