Riham Murad, Julia Roh, Jessica Ho, Rabia Pirzada

Big Love

Director: The Cast (Brides)

Michelle Williams

as Olympia

Rachel McAdams

as Lydia

Rachel Weisz

as Thyona

Director: The Cast (Grooms)

Paul Rudd as Oed

Ben Barnes as Nikos

Damian Lewis as Constantine

Director: Cast (Supporting Actors)

Timothy Olyphant as Piero

Meryl Streep as Bella

Jared Leto as Giuliano

Director: Cast (Supporting Actors)

Ashton Kutcher as Leo

Brittany Murphy as Eleanor

Director: Themes

•Feminism and Women’s Independence

•Marriage as a prison sentence

•Male dominance vs. Femininity

•Violence and Escape

Director: Setting•Play will be set in contemporary times with modern and simple language.

•Will be set in Italy in a mansion.

•Midevening in the summer of 2000

Directorial Concept•Women’s ambition and independence is not to be taken lightly. Women are usually passionate about their opinions and act on their opinions. Therefore, one should beware of a spurned woman.

Set Design•Play takes place in a mansion in modern day Italy-3 main modifiable sets

-Garden outside the mansion-Small living room for wedding

preparation-Plain and bare stage for the end

• -Overall Mood as portrayed by the set: romantic and ominous

 

Set Design• -All scenes are part of realistic theater (more in tune with reality and is relatable).

•Play will be on a thrust stage

•Set transitions will occurin front of the audience accompanied by music and coordinated choreography

Set: Lydia in the bathroom•Candles and rose petals in the bathtub to represent the remaining hint of romance and the foreshadowing of a marriage.

•The bath tub is gray because as a result of her confusion and inner struggle to want tomarry, but being pressure notto

Set: Bella and the Girls•Bella brings out a simple folding chair and table and places them on center stage to focus audience attention• -Olympia and Thyona are on her left while Lydia is on her right.•Bella will drop the tomatoes to her left•They are all surrounded by shattered glass

Set: Grooms Enter

•Chairs and table are moved to the side

•Shattered glass remains to represent the tension between the characters.

•No other props in order to keep the audiences’ focus on characters and their dialogue

Set: Arrival of Gifts and Wedding Preparation

•Set change to resemble asmall living room

•White couches to representinnocence

•Gifts are placed on blacktable to foreshadow the impending doom

Set: The Wedding and Murder•No props, just characters on a stage covered in a bright white sheet to represent innocence in marriage and to emphasize the blood and havoc on the floor after the murders have taken place

•Sheet will be ripped as the characters settle and discoverLydia with Niko

Set: The Aftermath and Exit

•There is panic across the stage, but Lydia and Nikos are in the back right corner-the only place where the floor remains clean and settled.

•After Bella’s judgment of Lydia’s action, a red carpet is rolled out where they all gather and take a picture with the newly weds

Light Design

•Lights from all sides of the stage are used•All characters on stage with a talking role are focused on with a light from the front above the audience and from above the stage•Too bright of a light will clash with the white dresses

Lights: Lydia in the Bathroom•Backdrop is colored with a blue moonlight•Stage area with the bathtub has a warm yellow/orange lighting coming from above, bright enough to see the actor’s faces•Candles add to lighting-romantic atmosphere

The blue moonlight Warm yellow/orange stage lighting

Lights: Bella and the Girls•The arrival of Olympia and Thyona is introduced with Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary•Change the warm yellow/orange lights to a white light•Areas with shattered glassware emphasized with blue light coming from below stage

Lights: Groom Enter•Overall stage lights dim and some lights focused towards the ceiling where the helicopter is

•Once the grooms enter the stage stage lights brighten up again

Lights: Arrival of Gifts and Wedding Preparation

•Once Lydia, Olympia, and Thyona have sprawl into chairs after throwing themselves to the ground all stage lights fade out for a set change

Lights: The Wedding and Murder

•Some people are enjoying the wedding at stage left and some have gone crazy at stage right• Intensity of the light lessens as it moves from stage left to stage right •Murders happen simultaneously then focus light on Lydia and Nikos

Lights: The Aftermath and Exit•Lydia and Nikos get married•Bright lights focus on them with a pinkish glow•Flashing lights when family picture is taken

Costume Design•Modern

•Very feminine attire for women

•Male clothes will exude confidence and wealth. Some males will have a "fresh" bright outfit that is masculine

Costume: Lydia• Lydia dress is bold with a deep v-neck that would flatter her body, and the sheer and transparent sash along wIth her diamond shape earrings are the highlight of her outfit. Like her, she doesn't have to be dressed up to showcase her beauty- simple accessories will bring out her prominent physical features

Costume: Thyona•  Thyona is a carefree girl who expresses her feelings, so her clothes wouldn't be too tight on her, but shows her curves and body in the right area. Her dress would have designs that shows off her body but still cover almost everything.

Costume: Olympia• Olympia- to showcase her personality and features, her theme

is princess. her wedding dress is like a princess style gown with ruffled bottom. she is a materialistic girl, and to portray that, a volumous gown fits her style ailing with ribbon heels and pearl earrings

Costume: Bella• Bella is a mother of many children, and she wears a

babushka with a black dress. her babushka is red, white, and black because red represents life (her experience), black represents her negative experiences ( sons' deaths) and white represents her happiness (her marriage, sons, and life). She wears a black dress in the play because it was mentioned and since she is older, she wears a long-sleeved dress.

Costume: NikosHe is honest and bold, like Lydia and since they became a pair in the end, I gave him a boutineer that matches with Lydia as they end up together in the end. His suit is sleek and sharp, someone who portrays confidence and a man of wealth. It also looks like an armor that protects his inner feelings which contrasts with his actions that obeys his family.

Costume: ConstantineConstantine has only a white handkerchief that stands for his simplicity and doesn’t need a flowery object like a boutonniere for the wedding. He’s actually violent compared to the other two brothers, but still wealthy and comes off as a confident guy in the play. Thus, this suit is just simple for someone who desn’t have many layers to his personality

Costume: Oed

Oed has a flowery boutineer with green leaves still showing as he is paired up with Olympia, who has a princess themed look. His outfit has small but significance designs on his suit and this compliments and balances out Olympia’s outfit.

Costume: PieroThis outfit follows the spring, bright-colored theme because of Italy, and Piero has a warm personality too, and this shows as he talks nicely towards the ladies. A blue plaid shirt along the pants shows a casual look and it is something an older men would wear on an afternoon day.

Costume: Guilianno

Guilianno is someone who is also sweet, but reserves as he doesn’t like to be involve with other people’s problems. He wears a light green shirt that goes with a spring theme with light khaki pants as he is still young. He is someone who also understands the males’ point of view, and he is not so different compared to the grooms beside the idea of marrying his cousin

Costume: Eleanor•Eleanor: wears a striped dress, young, but compliments a women during any age, and it has a spring, summer theme to it with a light colored wedges, belt, and sunglasses to complete a look for a vacation in Italy.

Costume: Leo• Leo: Appealing towards the eye, this outfit is suitable for older men. The sandals are perfect for Italy especially on a vacation and with the grey and white themed outfit, the clothing comes out neutral. It is simple, yet has a relaxing style that can be worn at a vacation house, at the beach, restaurant, or anywhere. This also parallels with his personality: relaxing and positive in love and life.