Intimate Apparel - Hypothetical Set Design

Hypothetical Design Project from Design Technology Masterclass Spring 2021

Concept:

Through Esther, all of the character’s now become interconnected in unexpected ways that they either become aware of or do not. Mayme and Mrs. Van Buren know of each other as they are both clients of Esther, so their worlds are reflective of each other, and how they each are yearning for things they do not have that the other does: Mayme yearns for higher class, Mrs. Van Buren yearns for intimacy. Then, George comes into their world through the letters, which they all become involved in as Mayme and Mrs. Van Buren both help her write them. When George comes and marries Esther, he gains a new connection with Mayme as her lover. Mr. Marks is connected directly to Esther through craft as well as a perpetual sense of unrequited love on both sides. Their fabric bolts will always flow together. As the source of her fabrics, Mr. Marks also links in with the others for whom she creates lingerie. When George reads his letters in Panama, he crawls out from under Mr. Marks’ apartment and exists on the lower level on that same side. This lowest level establishes his class as well as Esther’s romantic lens on him compared to Mr. Marks. Mayme is on this same lower level, signifying her class as well, below Mrs. Van Buren, as well as placing her on the same plane as George, further emphasizing their Act 2 connection. Esther’s bedroom which later becomes shared with George is in the center on the low level. Having Mayme directly to her left, always in the shadows is a further connection that serves as foreshadowing in the beginning, as well as an emphasis of the affair in Act 2 when George and Esther are both together in their same room. There are three windows in the set as well, as characters are often looking at each other’s lives, and yearning for things they don’t have. All of these interconnections between characters track through Esther, as if by a NY subway map, but is reflected by the wooden floor with large Chantilly lace overlay. Esther’s bed in Act 1 is shrouded by a large accordion screen, signifying the importance of what lies beyond it in act 2. When the bed is revealed when George and Esther move in together, it is shaped like a large triangle, which peaks at the most upstage point of the set. The bed also holds her precious money quilt, as well as her only form of direct intimacy in her own room which is why it tightens and encloses upstage. The rest of Esther’s room is the most open area of the set because every other more intimate moment happens in the other character’s homes. By the end of the play, all of these connections have been made and the characters would leave the stage less and less often. They would remain in the same space by the end of the play signifying that the lace that is Esther that connects them has left all of these connections raw and open, even though her future becomes less connected to them as her focus shifts toward her coming child, who is likely a result of the single act of intimacy that she had in her bed. The overarching concept here is the interconnectedness between the characters that is a direct result of Esther’s impact on their lives and the main way that this is reflected is through the design of the floor.