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Romantic Scenic Design for Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo is adapted from the novel by Alexander Dumas. The scenic design aims to support the themes of vengeance and redemption through a dark, brooding Gothic-Romantic set. The single set will have multiple levels connected by grand arched doorways to create a mysterious world and underline the theme that vengeance belongs to God alone. Stylistically, the design takes influence from medieval Gothic architecture through simplified forms, dark colors, and earthy textures to set a moody tone for Edmond Dante's story of suffering, revenge, and finding ultimate bliss.

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Paul Sullivan
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116 views2 pages

Romantic Scenic Design for Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo is adapted from the novel by Alexander Dumas. The scenic design aims to support the themes of vengeance and redemption through a dark, brooding Gothic-Romantic set. The single set will have multiple levels connected by grand arched doorways to create a mysterious world and underline the theme that vengeance belongs to God alone. Stylistically, the design takes influence from medieval Gothic architecture through simplified forms, dark colors, and earthy textures to set a moody tone for Edmond Dante's story of suffering, revenge, and finding ultimate bliss.

Uploaded by

Paul Sullivan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Scenic Design: DC Shawger, Jr.

The Count of Monte Cristo


By Alexander Dumas
Adapted by Jeff Cassazza and David Zak
1. The Action of the Play What happens in the play?
Edmond Dantes (alias the Count of Monte Cristo) has two goals--to
reward those who were kind to him and his aging father and to punish
those responsible for his imprisonment for a crime he did not commit.
Through the action of the play, Monte Cristo ingeniously plans and
carries out slow and painful punishment for those responsible for his
having spent fourteen years barely subsisting in the horrible dungeon
of the Chateau dIf.
2. Thematic Conclusion What are the two major themes?
a. Vengeance, while perhaps a mortal emotion, is better placed in the
care of divine intervention--as stated in the line: Tell the angel who
will watch over your life to pray now and then for a man who, like
Satan, believed himself for an instant to be equal to God, but who
realizes in all humility that supreme power and wisdom are in the
hands of God alone.
b. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling
ultimate bliss. In addition, for man to remain happy, he must do two
things: wait and hope. (Note: this truly is a romantic notion as Dantes
sails off into the sunset--literally.)
3. Production Objectives (from the Director)
a. Using the genre Romanticism, to tell the story of one man (Edmond
Dantes) with believable, well-rounded characterizations.
b. To underline the theme--vengeance is inappropriate in the hands of
man. It is an instrument intended for God alone.
4. Design Objects
a. To support the play through careful interpretation of the genre
Romanticism; to this end, to show that the story is not merely an
adventure but one of intrigue and mystery.
b. Emphasize romantic embodiments, such as: the return to nature;
love of the past (especially the medieval); the concept of honor and
nobility; an infatuation with the grotesque and unreal (hence the
extensive use of light and shadow); and arduous sentimentality.

c. To create the world of the play as a dark, brooding environment


made up of a series of arches and levels.
5. Translation of the design objective into visual and graphic terms
a. Line: Various, reflective of early romantic period. Emphasis on the
graceful, elegant yet moody architectural curves found in the early
16th and 17th Centuries--especially Baroque, hint of even earlier
medieval (13th Century) arches. Tall, overwhelming archways with
emphasis on grand proportion, further suggestion of the power in
refinement through simplification.
b. Color: Dark, moody black to blue, with ochre and golden highlights.
Emphasis upon the dark sense of mystery accenting light and shadow-with plenty of shadows cast from the massive archways, etc.
c. Texture: Very earthy feel. Hint towards the idea of return to nature.
d. Ornamentation: Hint towards simplified late Medieval Gothic rather
than Baroque.
6. Choice of Period, Style and Form
a. Period: 19th Century Romanticism (much earlier influence from the
mid-13th-15th Centuries).
b. Style: Gothic-Romantic as developed from the late Medieval Gothic
to Baroque periods. (Note: taking dramatic license here!).
c. Form: Modified Shakespeare stage; single set, multilevel (linear
form accented)

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