THE FATHER - SPECULATIVE DESIGN
By August Strindberg - Royal Court Theatre
2019
Speculative Design
Venue: Royal Court Theatre.
Even if the play was often considered as a symbol of “the battle between sexes” during the 19th century, I preferred to concentrate on all the elements that could take a different path than this one. It is noticeable how the play is filled with references to faith and nature which also reflect the struggle of Strindberg’s life, that often was poised between a profound religious faith and the research for a rational and measurable response to life.
Thinking about the design that could host this transformation, and at the same time a continuous dialogue between religion and science, led to the necessity of finding spaces and suggestions useful for this purpose. One of the first images used as a reference was the Chamber of Wonders, a place where a collection of every kind of object connected to art or science can be kept.
The final design represents the Captain’s room filled with objects owned by him and that are there both to comfort and imprison him. The image researched is that of a room suspended in time, in a dreamlike and surrealist dimension.
The Father - Process
See the Design Process from “The Father” in the video.
Methods: Collage, Sketch
COSTUME DESIGN
To ensure the idea of a surrealistic suspension in time, even the costumes were designed out of time with elements coming from different historical periods. The main inspiration was a fashion that didn’t change much throughout the centuries and could in a certain way be related with the thematic of a dialogue between God and Science. An analysis of different kinds of religious clothing and especially cassock was fundamental to start the costume design and led to a mixture of “cassock fashion” and a more “out of time” image.
