1. THE
IMPORTANCE OF
BEING EARNEST
BY OSCAR WIL DE
A C T I
Jessica Mullen, Set design
Guy Robertson, Light design
Jonathan Saade, Director

2. SET DESIGN
Jessica Mullen

3. SET DESIGN OBJECTIVES
 Creating an environment for the performers and their performance
 Helping to set the mood and style of the production
 Helping to distinguish realistic from nonrealistic theatre
 Establishing the locale and period in which the play takes place
 Evolving a design concept in concert with the director and other designers
 Providing a central image or visual metaphor for the production
 Ensuring that the scenery is coordinated with other production elements
 Solving practical design problems

4. SET DESIGNER’S DUTY
 The set designer is responsible for creating the visual world in
which the characters live.
 He or she decides on colors, visual style, where the play is taking
place, and what time of day.
 The set designers chose when to use backdrops and when to bring
in props.
 Set designers chose the atmosphere for the play.

5. Basic setting
 1890s
 London
 Algernon’s luxurious flat
 Opening setting: evening
SETTING

6.  Humorous/Light
~In diction and subject
~Full title is: The Importance of
Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for
Serious People
 Friendly
~Algernon and Jack (Earnest)
 Prestigious
~They both are wealthy
MOOD

7. SET DESIGN
Even though this part of the play is set in
a place of wealth with much extravagance,
the set is a little more simplistic due to the
stage and budget. Everything that is on
stage, however, does need to look high
class, and a little older in date. Nice
furniture, embellishment in background
texture and patterns, neat and clean as if
by a maid, and fresh and new (for the
time) items that are involved in each act.

8. LIGHT DESIGN
Guy Robertson

9. OBJECTIVES OF LIGHT
DESIGN
 Time and Place
 Visibility
 Shape and Form
 Mood and Style
 Focus and Composition
 Rhythm of Visual Movement
 Reinforcement of the Central Image
The controllable properties of light that can be manipulated to achieve the desired effects are:
intensity, color, distribution (position, type, and direction of the light), and movement.

10. TIME AND PLACE
 The color, shade, and intensity of the lighting can suggest the time of day, the
season of the year (angle of the sun), and place (indoor or outdoor light).
 Act 1 is set in the 1890s in the morning-room of Algernon’s flat on Half
Moon Street in London, United Kingdom early in the day.
 Lights change each time that there is a shift in location.

11. VISIBILITY
 The number one reason for lighting is so that the audience can see the performer’s faces and their
actions onstage.
 McCandles method will be used to provide visibility so light will meet the performers at 45O angles
and from directly above.
 Soft-edged Fresnel spotlights will be flooded over a large area of the stage.
 Flood lights will be used on the boarders of the set.
 Dimmers will be used to control intensity.

12. SHAPE AND FORM
 The performers and
the set are enhanced with
lighting and color from
the top, the side, and the
back of the stage.
 Lighting will come
from multiple directions
to emphasize dimension
(McCandles method).

13. MOOD AND STYLE
 Manipulating of the color and
intensity of light will help establish
the mood of the play; also, it will
indicate whether the setting of the
play is realistic or nonrealistic.
 The tone is light and amusing yet
the deception creates a dark sinister
side.
 Act 1- Gels will be used to create
bright, warm amber tones.

14. FOCUS AND COMPOSITION
 Keep the audience focused on
the central action of the play;
controlling the spill of light in front
of and behind the actor allows fluid
movement across the stage.
 Higher intensity light will be
illuminating the seating area in the
morning-room in Algernon’s flat so
that the audience will focus.

15. RHYTHM OF VISUAL
MOVEMENT
Choreographing the
shifts in light and
scenery draws the
attention of the
audience to the action
of the play.

16. REINFORCEMENT OF
THE CENTRAL IMAGE
 The lighting must be consistent with the overall style and
mood to create the intended theatre experience.
 The central theme is the hypocrisy of the Victorian society.

17. JOHNATHAN SAADE
DIRECTOR

18. OBJECTIVES/JOBS OF THE
DIRECTOR
• Help choose a script.
• Involved in casting.
• Help shape the SPINE of the play and steward
the THEME through all of the design elements.
• Find a style that will help illuminate the spine.
• Develop a directorial concept for the play.

19. SCRIPT
The reason I chose the Importance of Being Earnest by
Oscar Wilde is because I find the script to be extremely
interesting and entertaining.
Casting
• Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack and Earnest
• William Shatner as Algernon Moncrieff and Bunbury
• Alex Kingston as Gwendolen Fairfax
• Dame Helen Mirren as Lady Bracknell
• Morgan Freeman as Lane

20. SPINE OF THE PLAY
 The spine of this script is the how the main characters maintain a secret
double life.
 Also, the victorian society who were obsessed with the superficial and
materialistic life is exposed in this play.

21. THE STYLE OF THE PLAY
 The style that will help illuminate
the spine is a realist style based on the
characteristics of the period´s luxurious
lifestyle of elite society.

22. DIRECTORIAL CONCEPT
 The play has a feeling of luxury, sharpness, and exaggerated polished
refinement.
 With the use of fashionable late Victorian furniture, exquisite
wallpaper, wooden floor, elegant carpets and ArtNoveau details we can
better portrait the setting of this play.
 Also, the refined and sensuous elements of pleasure, such as pieces of
art, music and even food (particularly the cucumber sandwich) and tea in
the function of an obsession with superficiality.