Dummling and Princess

Princess has her hair down, prepared for marriage.

Simple fabrics, no embellishment but Tudor silhouettes

Tudor Rose

Mood Boards

Environmental Art, Architecture, Nature

Fantasy MakeUp and Illusion

Tudor

Holbein

Holbein was a very popular painter, particularly with the Royals, in the Tudor period.

He was commissioned to paint a lot of the royal portraits, some of which still hang in the properties they lived in.

Tudor Portraits

Mary

Elizabeth

Faerie Queen

I found this cut out in an old book I was given as a child on the Tudors. It explains the popularity of a fictional faerie character based on Elizabeth I. I have looked for more evidence of this character but can only find that the character came about through a poem written by Edmund Spenser and that various artists incorporated the character into their paintings, all with different idea's of aesthetics.

Other opinions on the character say that this poem was based on a prophecy regarding the Saxon's ruling England, which was later adopted by the Tudors.

I may take the Faerie Queen idea forward to help fuse the organic architecture and Tudor genres.

Illamasqua #2

This image is inspiring because the pattern and colours show similarities to the fabrics used to make Tudor gowns, particularly towards the end of the 16th century when everything became more detailed and decadent. Taking this texture and applying it to face has made me think about where I am using particular colours, textures, patterns and shapes and whether I should mix it up a little to see what happens.

Practice Makes Perfect!

I decided to make a very simple model to give me a better idea of what I'm working with, although still difficult as I don't have any stage measurements yet! This exercise really helped me visualise and see things coming together, as well as pointing out simple issues. For example, its now clear that the step down into the 'adaptable area' may not work as it doesn't leave a lot of room around the ring, although would the actors need room there? This is something I would normally discuss with actors and the director but in this case I have to decide for myself.

I have included photo's above of the process of making the model tree which went okay for a first attempt. I have since found an image sheet of tree silhouettes so I can choose a shape appropriate for the period, location and that will fit in the set.

Tudor Exterior Design #1

After hitting a dead end with my designs I thought that maybe I was placing too much emphasis on the scenes being the court. I decided to look at exteriors and use a balcony for the King and Princess to be stood on when they greeted Dummling and his followers. I plan to have a forest to the side of the building and to leave the rest of the stage empty so that different props can be brought in to represent different scenes. For example, the inn scene can be represented by wooden tables and beds being brought in and the scene in the forest where Dummling shares his food can be represented by a couple of stumps(for them to sit on) and a tree being brought in.

With this area being so versatile, this design should be usable for the entire production.

Dummling Costume #1

The previous image labelled ‘ordinary peoples clothing’ gave me the starting point I needed for Dummling’s clothing, it also helped me plan the ‘sisters from the Inn’s attire.

Changes in Fashion

The volume in the sleeves also moved over the century from a lot of flare around the cuffs so an undergarment can be seen to the volume being around the shoulder and a very tight cuff around the wrist.The image above labelled ‘Clothing of the elite’ clearly shows the change in sleeve volume.

Research Traces, Upper Class Ladies

My research tracings show the difference in detailing over the 1500’s. The early Tudor detailing is bold and uses a lot of pearls and beading whereas later in the century the detailing is a lot finer and more than one luxurious material is used for example pearl, lace and velvet all on one garment.

Reflection on Narrative and Tudor Life

By placing this dramatisation in the Tudor period, an obvious character to base the Princess on would be Elizabeth I. This production could be like a ‘what if’ view on Elizabeth’s life as she famously never got married as she claimed to be married to her country. An even more obvious choice would be her half-sister Mary as she was renowned for being serious and having an attitude, which is the description of the Grimm character. This choice will have a huge effect on both the design on the production and the narrative because of the difference in religion. Mary was a catholic so her wedding ceremony, clothing and props would all be different to that of her protestant half-sister.

The image above shows a high class man and woman dressed ‘according to their stations in life’. Tudor fashion was very much based on social class and trying to dress better than your class in order to progress through the classes. There was a lot of detail and, as the text above suggests, the fashions changed very quickly as people were very keen to be wearing the next big thing to state their rank.

Court Interior #2 overlay

This image shows the previous design with the overlay down. The overlay explains where detail would be, idea’s I am thinking of and character’s movement.

Tudor Court Interior #2

This design came about as I tried to figure out a way to have the 'arriving at the great city' and the 'wedding' scene all on one set as the scenes are very short and there would be no time for major changes. I kept the elevated seating area with the panelled walls behind but added a tapestry (to indicate royalty and riches) and brought that whole scene up a level to allow room in between the stairs for a wedding scene. The wedding area has an elevated area again, stained glass windows and I cannot decide between having rows of pews or just leaving the area open for the 'wedding guests' to stand as the furniture may get in the actors way and make things more complicated when changing the sets.

Tudor Court Interior #1

I started out by planning very simple ‘court’ scenes, taking inspiration from ‘The Tudors’ television production by having an elevated platform with just the two thrones and a table.

I felt that it needed more layers, more differences in height so I went on to design the next image.

Initial Idea's

I finally have the internet! So I can get everything on here now, only trouble is that the pictures don't want to move so i'm going to have to post lots of little posts to get it on here until I find a way to sort it.

It all starts with Carol Ann Duffy's dramatisations of the Grimm Tales, which I read through and, with my background being in film, really struggled to visualise as any kind of theatre production. In my head I was switching camera angles and locations like a film would which obviously would not work on a stage.

The only story I seemed to have any ideas for was The Golden Goose, which I had never heard of before so I decided to take this story as a basis for my work and see what I could build up.

TUDOR

As I have been interested in this period of history for as long as I can remember I have decided to look into this further to use as a genre for this project. Over the years I have collected quite a few books on this period, some focusing on the architecture, some on the clothing and others on social issues around the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

From breaking down the script, I decided to focus on the last 3 scenes. In these scenes, Dummling and his followers arrive the Great City and make the Princess laugh. Which results in Dummling and the Princess getting married in the final scene.

When applying this scene to the Tudor period, I figured that the visitors would have been greeted in the Great Hall by appointment and then the marriage could have taken place in either the Great Hall, the chapel or a nearby church. I began researching Tudor architecture and sketching designs for the Great Hall set.

Panelling is a key element in Tudor architecture, interior and exterior.