THE ROVER, Scenic Design

By: Aphra Behn

Produced By: Ohio University

Directed By: Brian Evans

Lighting Design: Derek Keifer

Costume Design: Kelly Myers

Sound Design: C.J. Whitaker

The Rover takes place at Carnival time; a time where the notion of disguise and deceit is in the air.  The characters progress through the piece, often in disguise, navigating the slippery world of love and identity.

The Scenery needed to be active as the characters.  I conceived the  set to have the maze like quality of ancient Italian cities; so the characters were given ample opportunity to move throughout the city, have romantic encounters, hide and fight. 

There are numerous scenes, with both interiors and exteriors that need to change instantaneously from one location to the next and sometimes back again.  To facilitate this I chose the Grecian/ Renaissance theatrical device spinning periactoi, but changed them from the traditional 3 sided  units to four sided ones.  I also used another Renaissance device of  false perspective to add dimension and depth.  The whirling  scenery relates to the topsy-turvy swashbuckling journey of the characters.  The material choice of Corefute plastic added translucent element to the world.