Jack and the Magic Beans
Picking back up with “Jack and the Magic Beans,” the second show of our season at UW-Whitewater. This is our touring children’s show of the year, with only a single performance on our mainstage before we send it off to area grade schools. This means that the set has to fit into a small panel truck (12 feet long or so), fit through whatever doors the schools have, be able to be set up with relative ease and speed by the actors, as well as be flexible enough that the scenic elements can be shifted on site as needed to accomodate performance spaces of various sizes and limitations.
Back in the Spring our costume designer, Tracey Lyons, suggested a Nordic folk feel to things, so I’ve been researching Nordic folk art, from rosemaling to woodcrafts to quilt patterns, threw in a dose of Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy World, and come up with what I hope will be a colorful storybook environment with a Scandinavian feel.
Folding screens will frame the space and provide masking. Other scenic elements will be flat and foldable and easily shifted during full-view scenic changes. The second act takes place entirely within the giant’s castle, so scale becomes an issue where flatness and ‘folk’art’ perspective will help — think Colorforms. . .