Above: Design Concept and Inspiration Presentation for Whimsical Grand

 

2018

Set Designer for "Whimsical Grand" at George Ignatieff Theatre, Toronto

Written and Directed by: Sabryna Ekstein

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Plot Summary

 

Emily and Cole are two strangers who get trapped on the floor of a hotel in Toronto during the 1940s. The story revolves around Emily narrating her tale about her sheltered childhood to Cole, and her desperate need to find excitement in her adult life, which had led her to falling in love with a con-artist as pen pals. She sends him a sum of money over the years, only to realize he had been conning her when he doesn’t show up on their first planned date. Cole is a free-spirited travel writer, the polar opposite of Emily, who makes her realize that she should try to accept this experience as a positive one, and as her cue to step out of her bubble and enjoy life.

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Design Rationale

 

Being a student production unaffiliated with any of the University (of Toronto)'s dramatic societies, the challenge with designing a set for the play was to create the most "1940s" look, with a budget of $0. Since the entire one-act play is set in the lobby of a run-down hotel on New Year's Eve, we decided to go full “art deco”, and include as many period props and furniture as we could find. The result is the use of some gems such as a typewriter present on one of the desks, an emerald velvet clad armchair, and an intricate bar-cart that I sourced, along with other details such as old books, flower pots, an intricate period clock, and a number of alcohol bottles (it was NYE, after all!). The result is a fluid set that allows for the incorporation of the existing elements of the theatre itself—such as the black curtains—into its very design, a lot of choreographed movement, and one that is well-suited for the lobby of a hotel that is barely holding it together.

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Below: Image from the production of Whimsical Grand  and prop details