I believe I am settling in nicely with my role as creative designer. As a group we have recently discussed the topic of sleep. More specifically looking into things that affect sleep, such as sleeping disorders, dreams and sleep myths. We found that each member had an interesting story to tell relating to sleep which then created a discussion around the importance of sleep to human survival.
Recently a few members of our theatre company attended Lincoln Performing Arts Centre to watch The Duke (2018). From the very beginning, when the audience first entered the theatre, the fourth wall was broken. Which is an imaginary wall that separates the audience from the plays action, typically used in traditional, proscenium art theatre. This unconventional style of theatre really inspired us, as the actor waited to greet every audience member, shake their hand and ask how they were, which as an audience member made me feel relaxed and part of the performance. Relating back to our own ideas around the theme of sleep, we want to invite the audience members to relax, feel involved and understand the importance of sleep. To help with this, I believe they should see that the actors are also comfortable and relaxed, and with our current ideas, I decided I would like to enhance this by having our actors in pyjamas throughout the performance. Although I decided against the actors wearing the exact same pyjamas, as I believe that would take away from the relaxing atmosphere we want to create, as the costume would then be more of a uniform.
Throughout my individual research I found that the colour blue was related to the best sleeping patterns, as “blue is thought to slow the heart rate and even reduce blood pressure” (McCann, 2013) and “those with bedrooms this colour tend to get the best rest – nearly eight hours a night – and wake feeling happy and positive” (McCann, 2013). This particular thought is something I found interesting, because it is not usually something considered when decorating a bedroom. I know it is certainly not something I have thought about until now. I decided to incorporate this into our costumes, by introducing a blue theme with all sets of pyjamas and asked members of the company to check their own wardrobes for such clothing.
L.F.
Works Cited.
Dale-Jones, S. (2018) The Duke [live performance]. Performed by Shon Dale-Jones. Lincoln: Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, 8 February.
McCann, J. (2013) Want a good night’s sleep? Find out which colours you should use in the bedroom (and avoid) for decent kip. Daily Mail, 16 May. Available from www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325476/Want-good-nights-sleep-Find-colours-use-bedroom-avoid-decent-kip.html [accessed 5th February 2018].
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