Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

By the end of October our Drama Society, a group formed by students to produce shows independent from our degree, had began holding nights in which students could pitch shows they wanted to direct. These were to be performed just before Christmas or in the new year. One of the shows chosen to be produced was Sweeney Todd, although it isn't to be performed until the beginning of April. The reason it was pitched so early on was to get casting out the way, put the vast number of costumes together, and build the set, to name but a few. Not only this but as the shows produced by the society are not part of our degree any work we take on board is in addition to our studies. As the set designer I realised before taking on the role that alot of preparation would have to be done way in advance. Not only so I wouldn't be swamped by the combined work load of university studies and society demands, but also so I could develop the set to a standard that I was pleased with. Furthermore, it would take a good deal of planning to make sure the set construction didn't eat up the budget of four hundred pounds for the whole show, as it easily could given the very nature of the play. I began to do rough sketches of the different elements of the set I had discovered on reading the script.

Above is an early concept for the set. As the show is to be performed in studio 3 I obviously took this into consideration when developing my idea, as shown by the curtain rail that frames the set. Here you can see the design is focused on the barber shop, the pie shop and the oven. The three boards mounted on wheels in the foreground are to be used for 'sub scenes' that are based around locations that pop up only once ortwice. They therefore don't require as elaborate sets and would be too costly any how. The barber shop is raised on steel decking four foot high which not only gives the idea of an upstairs shop but also allows the oven in front to form a different location without taking up more space. I realised the main sections of the set that would require time to build by myself were the sign for Lovett's pie shop, the screens that move around displaying different scenes (a book shelf, street wall, market stand, etc), and the oven. 

During one of our production meetings an idea was pitched to the tech team that would transform the show. The costume team had been discussing Todd with a lecturer who had suggested we change the style of the play from straight victorian to steampunk. Although open to the idea I didn't have a very good understanding of what exactly steampunk was so I went away and researched it. After googling steampunk and looking at a number of artists work I began to understand how steampunk stems from victorian styles of fashion, architecture and culture, but in a more futuristic, fantasy style. With this information I began to re-work my design for the set, still keeping the same 'shell' but changing the overall look. For instance, making the oven more elaborate, and changing the walls of the barber shop from delapidated wall paper to sheets of iron.

Above you can see how the steampunk theme altered my designs whilst still keeping the orginal layout of the set. I also decided to include a twiriling barber's pole sign. After this was approved I began considering how I would go about building the set. The steel decking would be easy to get hold of, as well as the counter for Lovett's shop. Sourcing  The three main features of the set I will be building are the 'Lovett's' sign, the barber's pole sign and the oven.

The first and most elaborate design element of the set is the oven and I have spent the last month constructing it. Back at the end of Decenber I got hold of a piece of hard board from the theatre workshop at uni and drew out the basic design for it just before I went home for Christmas.

I decided the most logical way of building the oven would be to create a three dimensional facade on the surface of the wood. I started building it up with cardboard tubes, plant pots, even coke cans...



I initially began securing the tubes with masking tape. 



I decided to reinforce the structure I had so far built using papier mache, as it was cheap and effective. By using wood adhesive instead of PVA it also hugely increased the strength and durability of the piece overall. Using a Pimms pitcher (appropriate i know) i mixed together the glue with about five parts water and (having tore newspaper into long strips) dipped the newspaper into the glue and laid it across the surface. As the materials I had used were not sturdy enough for practical wear and tear it was crucial I improved the strength of the oven.

Having built the outer structures I started to think about how I would build the main belly of the oven. Using a medicine ball covered in tin foil as a mould, I again soaked strips of paper in glue and laid them over the surface. After doing this a number of times and allowing it to set I then cut strips out of the mushroom shaped structure, leaving them attached nearer the centre. This allowed me to stretch the shape to the edges of the oven i had drawn out. I then laid two rings of garden wire over the centre to act as a frame, and keep the shape of the oven.

 Left you can see how I built up the structure with paper.

One difficulty I had to deal with during the layering of the dome was that as the oven is completely made of paper, so adding to much glue to the surface weighed down and loosened its structure. I was constantly having to prop up sides before they collpased but this was a minor proce to pay for constructing the oven cost free. I used the techniques of scrunching up balls of paper to pad out the steeper sides although I eventually changed this to strips of scrunched up paper as they made the job quicker. As a result the thickness of the oven was greately improved as well as its surface look.

Here you can see the main belly of the oven prior to me evening out it's surface.

Once I was happy with the surface of the oven I added a few more layers to the top as well as coating it with PVA for additional strength. After finishing the building of the oven's shape I moved onto the surface detail. First i painted all of the flat spaces inbetween with blue paint just so I had a clearer idea of the shape. Then I began work on the grill.

I experimented with a number of different designs for the grill and the surface details, e.g. hinges, locks, etc. I wanted it to look intimidating and bold but almost have a natural, organic look to their design too. The designs I chose have a sharp, gothic look to them, with sharp repeptitive angles. They also imcorporate smother, more flowing shapes that are more celtic in their origin. This use of a variety of different styles drawn them different cultures was important as it created a new theme that was more suited to the steampunk look we were after.

The oven begins to take shape.

Once the designs had been decided on and I had built the grill, I began to cut out the front of the oven. One thing i realised was how thick it really was, this was reassuring as I was less worried about damaging it. Using aa bread knife I cut out the rectangular shape of the openning.

 I then dressed the walls of the hatch with more paper to secure it and neaten it up. While this was drying I started to think how I was going to make the lion's feet that would hold up the oven.


Orginally I had considered carving them out of wood or polerstyrene but as this wasn't available to me I thought about using paper (yet again). Cutting up newspaper into small squares I mixed them with alot of glue and some water to create a pulp. I then used this to mould the feet onto the wooden sheet where they would be.

                                           While the feet began to dry I went back to the grill and, gluing the back of it, I taped it down so it would bend to the shape of the oven. Below you can see the grill and foot attached, the oven was really beginning to look more impressive by this stage. My next step was to work on the surface detail of the grill, it's hinges, frame and latch.

 

To make the grill stronger I used the sections I had to cut out the improve the thickness of it's bars. I also built a boarder for it and began drawing out the hinges and latch, as you can see below.

With the hinges and latch attached the oven was complete in terms of its structure. I still had the victorian motif around the base of the chimney to carve but as I had achieved everything I could do in my room I decided to take it in to the theatre workshop at uni. There I could paint it and finish any work remaining on it.

Once in uni I began undercoating the oven in white and neatened up the wood at the back in black as it will be for the show. I still havent decided on the colour scheme for the oven yet and so have left it painted white.

 As is obvious from the photo above the feet have been removed. Having taken much longer than I expected to dry I left them in my room next to the radiator.

With the hole still to cut into the back, colour schemes still to decide upon, the motif to mould from clay, and little touch ups here and there to do this completed the main section of the build for the oven. So far I am pleased with its progress, I have managed to save a bundle on the budget by building it cost free out of newspaper, and, more importantly, finally got my bed back!