Intellect

Authors:  Nick Moran 
DOI: 10.1386/padm.6.1.77_1

Keywords
bricolage,projected image,audience experience,stage design,screen,moving image,still image,video image,

Abstract
As the use of screens holding projected images becomes more prevalent in contemporary stage design, concerns have been raised over the tendency for images projected on stage to draw attention away from the live actor what Katie Mitchell has referred to as the lure of the screen. Two productions performed by the final year acting students at Central School of Speech and Drama provided an opportunity to test some ideas around the use of still and moving projected image in stage design, attempting to control this lure. Projected image was key to the design of both shows, which were to a greater or lesser extent devised with the company in the rehearsal room and the performance space. A major function of these productions is to showcase the performers and the design needed to support this aim, which, it was generally agreed, it did. In this short article, I will share some thoughts on why that was the case, and how the design team achieved a result that was scenographically successful and yet enabled the audience focus to remain largely with the live performers.