Ruby Moon Space

How is the audience experience of a play affected by the space in which it is performed?

An audience viewing a play is ideally led to experience the emotions and mood of the play, being brought into the action and undergoing a journey with the characters. A large element of producing this effect is the use of space in its performance stage, utilising shape to convey feeling and the nature of relationships. In this space, the manipulation of multi-media, costume and stage elements to arouse richer meaning and emotion, while also providing a fascinating and awesome experience. The spatial design of this shape allows for a unique representation of the story, and awareness of the use of spatial dynamics (this includes proximity and size) allows
The audience can be lead to experience an altered version of reality when confronted by a carefully designed and coordinated show of lighting and sound, bringing them into the mood of the play. These effects can have strong connotations to other stories, moods or ideas, allowing the audience to link symbols between plays. The way in which lighting and sound interact with the elements on stage can also heavily imply meaning – a doll standing on a well-lit stage with happy nursery rhymes would have different air than the same doll standing on a shadowy stage, a haunting Greensleeves playing in the background. In Ruby Moon, multi-media plays an essential role in lending mood to the audience member – the recurring use of song and sound effects, and contrasting well-lit scenes and shadowy, unrealistic ones allows for an ever-evolving space. I found, as an audience member, that the use of lighting and sound to create space could make or break a piece – those well-coordinated in ideas allowed for a much stronger impression on the audience, and a vast range of emotions, from fear to pity to bewilderment, to confront the viewer. Ruby Moon is the perfect example of multi-media being manipulated to convey strong messages of tension and anxiety to the
Simply the placement of actors in a space allows viewers to infer ideas on their connections and feelings towards each other. Proximity of actors can introduce character, build tension, or resolve conflict – the three things theatre is undeniably based on. Two characters with some distance between them on stage, facing away from the other can demonstrate a conflict, and some mutual dislike, before even script or body language has come into play. Compare this to two actors sitting together on a chair, or one standing above the other, and in each example, we have a very different mood for the audience, simply conveyed through the proximity and situation of the characters. When acting the roles of Sylvie and Ray, my partner and I found that the Prologue needed to have an awkward but tender distance between the two, showing an uncertain, however well-meaning, relationship. Throughout the play, this staging was changed to demonstrate Ray’s increasing power and control over Sylvie, as he stood on higher ground and moved around the stage. These terrifying scenes are interspersed with snapshots of intimate moments, where again we return to a more equal power balance and intimate spacing, however these moments become shorter and less frequent throughout the play. The use of space and proxemics in theatre