The Art of Scenic Design

List of Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction: "And Just Like That" Let's Recognize the Theatrical Identity Crisis Rely on Story - Always Adjacent Possible and the Liminal Space What Has Changed . and What Has Not 1. The Designer as a Child Futurist Who I Am and Why You Should Bother to Care The Creative Adult is the Child Who Survived Creativity Scars Take the Risk of Not Knowing You Are a Designer Everyday Two Worlds That Collide at the Stage Edge 2. Empathy and Answering "What Story Are We Telling" With Collaborators The Beginning of the Design Journey - and the Possibility Represented in "What If." Creating Creative Space The Design Jacket and How it Fits (or Does Not Fit) the Play If/then as a Catalyst for Design Ideas Renaissance Teams 3. The Importance of Research as 'Fuel' for ANY Process The Playlist of the Mind Designer as Translator into a Visual Language Visual Alchemy Designer as Visual Collector (Bordering on Visual Hoarder) Get Your Inspiration from ANYwhere! Responsibility to the Story as a Storyteller Identifying Patterns Identify What is Your "Cup of Tea".and Ignore That Primary and Secondary Research 4. Clawing and Scratching out an Idea Design is Messy.and Lose the Boxes Get Lost in the Woods Across Space and Time The Design Digestive System Avoiding the Self-edit Your Inner Clown What is Working.and What Isn't? Answering "What if." with Your Pencil Space, Time, and the Default Mode Network 5. Modeling and Shaping an Object and an Idea You are Your Own Instrument Don't Tell Me, Show Me The Saint Joan Saga The Model: It's Not Jewelry. Don't Fall in Love. Modeling as Prototyping 6. Creative Swings, Career Fields, and Collaboration Collaboration is Key The Myth of the Sole Genius The Path vs the Field Don't Fit In. Don't Try to Fit In. Q-Theory and the Creative Team Design as Collaborative Craft 7. The Tech and Preview Process - the Ultimate Proof-of-Concept Recognize Your Role

Robert Mark Morgan is Teaching Professor of Drama and Director of the Beyond Boundaries Program at Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and a Teaching Artist for arts education and consultancy COCAbiz. For 30 years he has designed professionally in the areas of theatre, film, museum, and theme park venues, including for American Conservatory Theatre, the MUNY, Old Globe Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Indiana Repertory Theatre, and the Cleveland Play House.