From notebook 11/25/2011

This set of notes was written after reading a friend's play and really thinking about the practicalities of the actual theatre space.

How to depict Gef?
Show him? Hear him?
Have characters interact with Gef in one-sided conversations?

Should Gef's voice be pre-recorded?
If so, should Gef be voiced by Voirrey's actress?

What should we see on stage?
[Idea: a claustrophobic box set] - [literally a box with a roof enclosing the characters. Light becomes an issue.]

The box set is made up of gapped slats - the gaps large enough to show light and movement behind them. [Stage hands then become performers as well] -[mongoose mask + tails!]

Light in set perhaps comes from diegetic sources: lamps, lanterns, candles, etc etc

Diegetic being the fancy word for "occurring within the same world as the characters."
i.e. The light in the scene won't come from the spots in the rafters of the theatre, it will come from the character's turning on the lamps or lighting candles.

Voirrey is always in the set box until she dies, then she leaves into Gef's area.
Gef is outside the box.

The last sentence is totally appropriate on a few levels.

Then a list of possible set furniture, with an eye to flexibility.

Table
Bed - chaise lounge
Chairs.

Pictures on walls
[sets start out crowded and then get more and more spare]

Who acts where?
How do they meaningfully interact?

I thinking I was talking out my backside on the last one. They meningfully interact because I write it so. I actually mean "How do they physically interact", which is more a directing and performance issue than a writing one. My job is to provide the motivation for however the cast/crew decide to do their jobs.

Make a moment out of Margaret touching Gef's claws. [Touch is important, touch causes problems]
Gef wishes contact, but contact is painful.

Vanish.