Cube set design?

January 10, 2006 1:19 PM

TheatreFilter. In college, I saw a touring company perform Two Gentlemen of Verona using a very simple set made from maybe a dozen sturdy (but lightweight) cubes.

Between scenes, the players would rearrange and restack the cubes to serve the next scene. There was no blackout. I think the sides were of various colors, but I can't recall. My question: Is this an established low-end / low-budget theatre practice? Might there be some write-ups or even books to help out someone wishing to use the same method? Also, if anyone wants to share their own no-budget theatre success stories, please share.

posted by grabbingsand to media & arts (10 comments total)

These cubes are often called Pippin boxes, after the musical by the same name.
posted by lorimt at 1:31 PM on January 10, 2006

This is not that, but several months ago there was a dance performance on the Hudson river by the World financil Center where they used a bunch of cube wire frames in a very effective way. They were like 8 or 10 feet per side.

They rolled them, flipped them, walked in and out of them...
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:38 PM on January 10, 2006

Black Box Theater (or Theatre, if you're gonna be Fancy about it)

I've been in many great community theater shows where we do the multi-colored boxes/simple benches/no flats as sets thing. Pippin was one, but we also pulled off a production of Big:the Musical with huge multi-colored boxes. Way fun, way easy, especially in a no-pressure community theater environment.
posted by inging at 1:49 PM on January 10, 2006

You might want to look into the art movement Constructivism which was very much about the simple geometric shapes. Meyerhold was the principal exponent of constructivism in set design.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 2:16 PM on January 10, 2006

This is basically the mission of my theatre company. We don't use crates (much), but we do use simple, folding chairs and tables (the company is called Folding Chair Classical Theatre). We don't do this for budget reasons; we do it for aesthetic reasons.

The company is about simple storytelling. Our goal is to see how evocative we can be using just the actors, the playwright's words and the simplest accessories possible. Very often, we perform on a completely bare stage (we performed "The Winter's Tale" and "The Oresteia" that way). If absolutely necessary, we add simple props and furniture items.

We never use sets; we never use lighting changes (we just keep the lights up during the whole show); the actors perform in street clothes.

On the site, there are photos from past productions that show this technique in action.
posted by grumblebee at 2:44 PM on January 10, 2006

I once performed in a high school production of THE FANTASTICKS (as Hucklebee), which is written to have almost no set. I believe the narrator says, "We have these two platforms and everything else we need we can get from these two boxes" (prop boxes). At one point in the play two extra characters climb out of the boxes to enter the scene. It is a great play and now I want to see it again!
posted by pithy comment at 2:50 PM on January 10, 2006

Just to clarify, the "black box" in "Black Box Theater" doesn't actually refer to cubes used as set pieces, but to the performance space itself, as described in that Wikipedia article.

That said, if you're looking for a production that uses, um, black boxes for a set, you'd probably be more likely to find one in a black box theater than in a traditional theater.
posted by staggernation at 2:52 PM on January 10, 2006

I once performed in a high school production of THE FANTASTICKS (as Hucklebee), which is written to have almost no set.

The play that is really well-known for this is "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder.
posted by grumblebee at 3:03 PM on January 10, 2006

Also, the original Broadway production of "Sweeney Todd" used a sort-of giant version of the cube. The set was a big box that they rotated. You can get an idea of what it was like from this illustration (the cube is behind the actors). The production was filmed and is available on DVD.
posted by grumblebee at 3:13 PM on January 10, 2006

This is pretty standard practice, especially in a university setting. The "cubes" can come in all shapes and sizes but an 18"x18"x18" is pretty standard - light enough to move easily, tall enough to serve as a sittable (i.e. a substitute for a chair), and easily stackable. At UH the beginning directing students had a standard "kit" that consisted of three 24" cubes, two 48x48x18 "squares" (push two together to make a bed) and two 60x18x18 "longs" (horizontal = couch, vertical = pillar).

One of the first plays I ever saw was a theatrical adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" at UCSB and the student group putting on the play used just a few black cubes to construct every set in the play. It floored me at the time (wow, they used two cubes to make a car - and now they've turned the car into a table!)

You don't need a writeup or a book. Just grab a few cubes yourself and start playing. Remember how it was when you were a kid and a box could be anything - a fort, a hill, a sled, a time machine, a treasure chest? Same principle. If you're completely stumped, just watch some more college theatre.

I think eventually the idea of constructing crude approximations of literal things (beds, couches, cars, tables) gets a little stale but cubes are also great for creating abstract landscapes - different levels for the actors to inhabit that don't represent any real world objects.

Analogous to the idea of cubes as universal set pieces are sticks as universal props. In commedia dell'arte, two of the characters have such props. Zanni carry a slapstick (battochio) that serves as a weapon, a spoon, tweezers, comb ... anything. Capitano carries a staff (bastoni) that works the same way.

It's great fun for the audience (and the director) to start with a limited supply of something and invent everything you need out of that. I once directed a play where the only props were four hockey sticks which served as flags, rifles, stretchers, a coffin and, yes, hockey sticks.

P.S. Kudos to the troupe you saw for making the scene transitions part of the play. Blackouts are evil.
posted by zanni at 3:49 AM on January 11, 2006