written by Tom Stoppard
set design concept by Jade Lo
venue: Helen Hayes Theater
with corresponding costume design concept
Set Design III, Winter 2024 (capstone project)
Stoppard’s stage directions about the set are minimal, only describing it as architecturally grand but otherwise bare without excess furniture and ornament. While my costumes maintain clear delineations of time, I designed the set to feel grand and universal— the fact that the space transcends period led me to envision it as a non-literal, allegorical place. While the room is grounded in the Georgian period and the Robert Adam style in terms of basic detailing, I exaggerated the scale of the elements as a way of speaking to the macro side of the play. It is simultaneously a home, a place of study, and an object of study, in which the characters are grappling with forces that are ultimately much bigger than themselves and their respective time periods.
To me, the core of Arcadia lies in our relationship to tactile materials and how that connects us to the past. Much of the action of the play, especially in the contemporary timeline, sees the characters interacting with archival books and letters. My research process brought me to original architectural plans and elevations of Classical English stately homes designed by Robert Adam in the 18th century. A detail I translated into the set was the 2-dimensional conventions of these section views, which display cross sections through the mouldings. I adapted this element into the portal that frames the room as a meta-reference to the archival materials that hold the key to our past.
1/2” scale painted model
storyboards compiled in Photoshop
Architectural reference images
Preliminary process sketches & notes