Blocking, Costumes, and Props For Our Scene

For our scene, I had a few ideas for costumes. I thought it might be interesting if we interpreted our scene in a modern view, while keeping it minimalistic. I thought both Lord and Lady Capulet should wear all black, except for one accent of a color. I think black brings a very professional and mature feeling in a scene, and because of how tense this scene is it seemed to work. I want the accents of color to be different on each of the actors, with one wearing a red and the other a blue item. It is commonly thought that blue and red are opposites, so I thought this would symbolize Lord and Lady Capulet’s role within the family’s hierarchy. For Juliet, I wanted her to wear white, to symbolize her purity.  I also wanted her accent to be purple, to show the audience that she isn’t just like her mother or her father (if she were, I would have her either wear red or blue), but she is like both of them and also her own person. Purple is the color you get when you combine red and blue, but it is also its own, new color. This will also symbol the disconnect between herself and her parents.

As for staging, I want there to minimal props on stage. It is supposed to been Juliet’s bedroom, but I don’t want anything too distracting that will take away from the actors. While we are still figuring out the blocking, I want Juliet at one point to get on her knees while Lord Capulet is yelling at her. This will show the power he has over her and how controlling he is being. I think when the scene begins, Juliet should be the only one on stage, possibly sitting on her bed. Her mother should enter from stage right, and sit with her. When Juliet objects, she should stand. When Lord Capulet enters from stage left (having both parents enter from opposite sides will show the disconnect between them and highlight the difference between their two colors. It will also allude to them living in a big house) he should stay in the downstage corner until he gets more angry. I don’t want Juliet to look at him until he comes to her side, however, Lady Capulet should be watch him. This will make the scene have more tension and be more dramatic.  

This is only the basic blocking so far, but I am sure once my group begins collaborating together, new ideas will emerge. I look forward to help create this scene. My goals are to make it dramatic and full of tension, so that we can highlight how much the characters have changed. I think the full focus of the scene should be on the actors, and keeping the props and costumes to a minimum will only add to this. I want the scene to be intense and full of passion, and hopefully, our blocking, costuming, props, and everything that has yet to be developed will help us achieve that.