"El Centro de Lima", an everlasting journey of production

Description:

In the course of our regular theatre classes on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; we trained, developed and enriched scene 5 and 6 by discussing monologue choices and actually putting them into practice. While, in the school play rehearsals on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we developed and rehearsed the entire act 1 including scenes 5 and 6 of the second act. Saturday was a special day; half of the production team with the support of Gonzalo and Aileen went to Centro de Lima to search for the missing props, makeup elements and light jellows required for the school play.

Analysis:

From Capón, the barrio chino to zoladi, we accepted the quest and went in search of the missing props, light jellows and makeup we would be using in the school play. Many props were urgently required for next rehearsal such as the three cups and trays carried by the royal maids, Ravenna’s locket or in other words her source of power, Sita’s necklace which is the symbolic representation of faithfulness and fidelity, the fabrics covering the throne, the textiles used for the introduction of the protagonic characters and the cloth for the death dancers. Wow so many props in such small amount of time! Oh no! Wait that is not even half of what we are looking for. From my personal experience in a crowded atmosphere like “El Centro”, managing our time was the most difficult task of all. Let us face reality; we did not have to only find most of the props that were needed for the school play but also the light jellows and the makeup to begin the tryouts and official practices. We decided to begin with a design section and then continue with the next one and eventually the next one because or else our key factor was going to be lost, time. Because of this, we learned about specializing. We decided to concentrate in the purchasing of specific props, according to its importance and vitality in the play in order to avoid returning to the overpopulated streets of Parurro o Capón in the Centro of Lima. We had calculated that, in case we had no spare time left, we would have to have at least the elemental props needed for the scenes. That was because, or else, we were going to be held back by time.

We went to the barrio chino that had an exceptional range of Hindu shops to look for Ravenna’s locket and Sita’s necklace. By searching, I noticed that the items we found were not exactly like my visions of the props since they were lacking some fundamental features. Therefore, I learned how to adequate my vision to what we have found. I realized that not everything I imagined was necessarily going to be found. As a result, we searched for the props that mostly fitted my vision. For example, for Ravenna’s locket, we found large white and dark blue-gemmed lockets that included silver metallic decorations all around them. Although the form and style of the locket fitted perfectly to my perception of the locket, the main feature was still lacking, the red gem symbolizing violence was missing. Answers, resolutions and ideas were knocking our heads. “Should we paint them with red aerosol spray?”, “Perhaps, we can paint them with a dark red marker” or “What happens if the gem gets damaged by painting it with a red marker, will it still look alright and professional if its original color wasn’t red?”. This actually creeped us out, because as I said before, the key feature was still missing, the red fervent we were searching for. Instead, the gem was white, which perhaps, the audience can get confused since white usually symbolizes purity whether than rage, violence or a dark force. Whilst counting the dark blue was not a bad idea. In our color palette is true, blue symbolizes the good side, however the black twists the significance. The dark blue could maybe suggest a sinister power. However, I must admit! After searching, we found a bronze locket that had amazing designs incarcerating a small sized red precious rock. Although it was red, the closest founding to our proposal, there was one slight problem: The gem was not big enough! From that, I learned that although you find the color, the size matters. Since the power came from the rock, how could so many supremacy come from a minuscule rock, IMPOSSIBLE.

However, during our search of props some items found were missing vital features. In inclusive, some foundings were even better or had actually trespassed my original visualization of a selected prop. In the case of Sita’s necklace, I had imagined it entirely gold, where exquisite gold-plated pieces joined and beaded together. This necklace had to minimally include a big light green or blue gem in the center, accompanied with two smaller ones on each side that would match the color palette and her costume. In contrast, we found something even better; it was an abstract necklace that included gold beadings and many gems of different variations of green elaborated in a floral design. Therefore, this new acquisition fitted perfectly Sita’s costume and our Kathakali color palette. For our benefit, the necklace included a slight decoration used in the head and a pair of earings. Both of these had the exact decorations of the necklace, creating the perfect Indian packet. These included head decoration and earrings contributed more to Sita’s physicality since she has to seem as a noble and delicate Indian princess who is prestigious. By finding this necklace, a new prop was discovered which would contribute even in a higher scale with Sita’s physique. These were several gold narrow bracelets that are used in big quantities due to their thinness. According to previous Indian beliefs and cultural traditions, royal princesses used exaggerated decorations and jewelry to demonstrate themselves as unique and exquisite powerful people who live in a wealthy lifestyle full of nobility and greatness. From this, I learned that the props we listed were not definite since new props could be discovered. In addition, thanks to Aileen, she reminded and taught me how was the physical appearance of an Indian princess, where several exaggerated decorations and jewelry were needed to highlight her delicacy and gracefulness.

By buying the textiles used for the introduction of protagonist characters, the cloths of the royal dancers and the fabrics for the imperial throne, we discovered and learned three main elements that must be taken always in count when buying fabrics. Firstly is the light effect on the cloth. We needed to ensure that for the royal throne, the fabrics didn’t shine too much because our purpose was that the fabrics needed to decorate the throne, look like actual “terciopelo” in order to show the audience that being in the throne meant you were on top of the hierarchy pyramid and had a major influence upon the rest. The other factor token in count when buying fabrics is its transparency and weight. The cloth could have either a solid opaque color where light rays cannot pass through or the opposite, a clear type of cloth that can help with the flow and movement of the cloth itself. Referring to the textiles used for the death dancers, we needed to find a black easy flowing cloth that would let the same dancers, control the movement of their cloths. In order for it to be free flowing, the textile had to be transparent and light weighted for the death dancers to have more control upon them.

Reflection:

After going to the Centro, I learned that the time must be controlled and managed efficiently if you want positive results, and especially, if you want to finish with the eternal list of materials you need for the school play in less than one month.

Prioritizing. Specializing was in matter a fact, a major lesson we learned when going to the Centro. By going to purchase the different props, we became organized and aware of taking critical decisions on the purchasing of props. We reached the decision, which was to buy the props that were vital and essential for the play at this moment.

I would like to question the following:

What do professional directors and producers do if they do not find an exact prop that does not satisfy their original vision of it? Do they just replace it with a similar prop but that has a slight change since they could not find anything? Because perhaps a similar object can be changed, but if it does not coincide with the color palette that reflects their entire concept, than what do they do? How highly does it affect the outcome of their play?