Mrs. Brown’s Set Design class was busy this winter learning important skills in the classroom then applying them in the real world. Her students, in grades 10 through 12, had the chance to design set elements for a local production of the children’s classic Charlotte’s Web, which took place at the Philipstown Depot Theatre in Garrison, New York on December 10 and 11, 2022. The production was put on by the Depot Theatre’s Youth Players, a program that gives children and teens opportunities to work on and backstage at theater productions. The collaboration came about when Mrs. Brown and the executive director of the Depot Theatre, Amy Dul, spoke about the project earlier in the year.
To begin, Mrs. Brown’s students did research into American farm life, watched some movie clips, and reviewed the stage dimensions at the Depot Theatre. Initially, the class brainstormed ideas for the sets as a group. Then, they split up into smaller groups and worked on different scenes with the goal of creating small elements that could be transported and set up easily at a later date. Finally, working in pairs, the students refined elements and made models.
By mid-November, the class was ready to present their models to Fay Pacht, the director of the production, who helped to fine-tune the designs before the students began building the pieces. According to Mrs. Brown, the biggest challenges came as a result of designing for a small theater. For example, “we had to create pieces at the right scale for the actors, who are shorter than adults, and avoid props whose size would steal the spotlight,” said Regina B. ‘24, one of Mrs. Brown’s students.
Another challenge came while designing the platform on which Charlotte stands. 10th-grader Yusei S. ‘25 recalls that the original platform was too small, which “interrupted the actors and crew as they entered and exited the stage. We added a new section to help improve the traffic flow.” Annie C. ‘24, explained that practicality was also an important factor and the elements needed to be easy to transport and set up. That’s why she designed and created a two-sided fence, painted brown on one side and white on the other. “It simply flips with a scene change,” she explained.
Set Design, a recent addition to the School’s performing arts curriculum, focuses on the conceptualization, planning, and design of sets. The course compliments Mrs. Brown’s Stagecraft class which focuses on the technical and production aspects of theatre including set construction, sound, and lighting. “I’m very excited about this recent collaboration and that my students had the chance to put the skills they learned in the classroom to work at an actual production. I hope to see some of them continue learning in my Stagecraft class in the spring,” Mrs. Brown explained.
