If a person wants to spend their evening viewing an exciting and thought-provoking play, they better veer themselves away from the play Courting Chekov. In contrast to a stimulating evening at the theatre, the play Courting Chekov leaves viewers puzzled about the theme and questioning the overall effect of the written play. Despite being somewhat of a disappointment, the elements of both lighting and set design were successful in capturing the attention of the audience and therefore allowing the production of the play to be successful.
The first element that made the production of the play Courting Chekov successful was the play’s set design. As a viewer walked into the Loft theatre, they were immediately transported into the countryside. The large entanglements of tree branches hanging from all four corners of the theatre made a viewer feel as if they were walking into the woods. These clusters of tree branches were positioned toward the center of the theatre, thus allowing the stage to delineate a clearing.
This positioning served to be beneficial in that it focused the audience’s attention toward the actors and the action occurring on stage. In addition to the tree branches, the pillars that enclose the stage on all four sides were also useful in creating the image of the countryside. These pillars were painted in a way so that they represented tree trunks and for the most part drew the audience’s attention away from their obstructed sightlines.
By painting these pillars in such a fashion, a viewer felt as if they were spying on events occurring on stage and that the tree trunks served as barriers of secrecy between themselves and the actors. The second element that contributed to the success of the production was the play’s lighting. The blackness of the Loft theatre made lighting a very influential element in determining whether of not scenes were successful. In the case of Courting Chekov, the lighting succeeded in that it helped portray the setting and time period.
The lighting used in the play seemed to differ from that of white light and instead embodied more of an orange tint such as that given off by fire or lamp light. This orange tint lighting was effective in that it made viewers realize the time period of 1890 and the absence of electricity. In contrast to the orange tint, white light was used to differentiate the scenes that took place on the stage and those that entailed the reading of letters.
This differentiation was successful in that it created an aspect of isolation while letters were being read and focused the audience’s attention on what was being read and not what was occurring around the actor. In conclusion, the production of the play Courting Chekov was successful because of the careful considerations put into both the elements of set design and lighting. However, the success of the written play depends on the play being reworked and rethought in order to make the entire night at the theatre a beneficial and thought-provoking event.
