Workshop to build a scenography for de’ Sommi’s dialogues

Aims

Through the construction and painting of this scenography, the pupils will learn:

The basic construction of stage flats
The scale transposition of a hand drawing to a larger surface
The painting of flats
How Baroque scenery created a perspective effect, as described by Serlio
About the dialogues of de’ Sommi
Organisation and group work

Key Information

Number of learners	4-14
Number of staff	One teacher and/or technician with knowledge of perspective, scenic painting and set construction.
ECTS Credits (if applicable)	Not applicable

Learning process

	Lecture/seminar	Lecture, presentation, discussion (face-to-face or online)
X	Making project	Making a model, mock-up, plan or design (physical or digital)
	Performance project	Making a performance or demonstration (live or mediated)
	Records and Archives	Interviews, photographs and videos of artefacts, annotating archives, creating learning materials (physical or digital)
	Independent study	Reading, researching, analysing and evaluating learning materials (physical or digital) in groups or alone

Type of learner

X	Student of technical theatre
X	Student of theatre design, architecture
X	Student of theatre arts
	Professional
	Researcher
	General public

What You Will Need

Duration and schedule

Preparation by the teacher:

3 hours to prepare a presentation to introduce the topic material, organise the working material, the working groups and the work plan. You may need longer if you are not familiar with the work and ideas of Serlio and de’ Sommi.

The workshop:

The duration will depend on the skills and experience of the students, and how complex a design they undertake. Typically allow 5 days, preferably in a continuous period.

When planning the schedule, remember to allow drying time for the painting process.

Room or type of space

Workshop with tools for working with wood, for making scenery.

Workshop for painting, large enough to see the scenery from a distance (it can be the same space, or a different one).

Equipment

Table saw
Drill
Wood mitre saw
Square and bevel, ruler
Hammer, screwdriver and other woodworking tools.
Paint buckets, paint brushes of various sizes, sponge, ladder.

Materials (consumables)

Timber for the frames of the flats
Plywood or canvas, to clad the flats
Mouldings and expanded polystyrene blocks, to add 3D elements to the flats
Screws, wood glue, sandpaper
Charcoal, various coloured paints, various paintbrushes.

Learning resources (books, websites)

Canon stories:

G.03 Scenography Codified: Serlio's scenes for comedy, tragedy and satire

G.04 How to Build a Theatre: The books of Sabbatini and Furttenbach

Canonbase articles:

Other resources:

MELLO, Bruno. Tratatto di scenotecnica. G. Agostini Novara 1972

SLOAN Annie y GWYN, Kate. Pinturas y acabados para la decoración. Ed la cúpula

Process

Preparation

Preparation by the teacher:

Prepare a presentation introducing the scene designs of Sebastiano Serlio, and the dialogues of Leone de’ Sommi.

Prepare plans (technical drawings or sketch diagrams) of the frames of the flats. Alternatively, depending on the skills and objectives of the students, you may want to have them prepare the drawings.

Prepare sketches of the design for each flat, based on Serlio’s drawings.

Prepare colour samples.

Preparation by the students:

Students do not have to do any preparation, but they should be familiar with the tools of the workshop, and have some knowledge of perspective, colour theory and drawing.

The learning activity

Give a presentation introducing students to the dialogues of Leone de’ Sommi and the scenes of Sebastiano Serlio.

Students then construct the frames of the flats. The flats can then be canvased and sized in the traditional way, or they can be clad in plywood.

Paint the flats white as a base. Using charcoal, transfer the designs from the sketches to the flats, either by marking out a grid on each, or by projecting the sketches onto the flat from a laptop. Note that for the projection method to work, the projector needs to be exactly square-on to the flat, otherwise the image will be distorted and the perspective won’t work.

Choose a colour palette for the different parts of the scene. Paint the first layer in block colour, and then add shadows and textures.

Once complete, assemble the flats in their correct positions, and check the perspective. You are now ready to act out the de’ Sommi dialogues!

Assessment and feedback

This activity isn’t designed to be assessed formally, but discussion throughout the process will ensure that students’ learning is embedded, and students understand what it is they have learned.

You can also have students write a journal of the process, or give a presentation about what they have discovered.

Our Experience

Tips

Depending on the time available, and the level of experience of the students, they can be responsible for tasks such as making the construction plans for the flats, and calculating the quantities of materials required and ordering them.

During the process of transferring the base sketch to the flats, it is important to move away from it to check the general proportions, and to see if any adjustments need to be made to the drawing.

Make sure students are clear about the process to be followed before starting, and that the work is well distributed amongst the groups. Plan your groups to keep everyone busy as far as possible.

Additional information and resources

See also the teaching methodology for staging the de' Sommi dialogues.

Scenography made by students of 2nd year of scenography (RESAD, Madrid, February 2022):

Planning the design:

Drawing, based on Serlio
Colour references
The colour palette
Selecting paints
Coloured reference drawing

Constructing the scenery:

Cutting plywood
Assembling the flats
Adding 3D detail
Adding 3D detail

Painting the scenery:

Tracing the design
Painting the backdrop
Painting the flats

Final assembly:

Assembling the scenery
The finished scene

Credits

This learning method was made by:	Carmen Arias, Felisa de Blas, Almudena López Villalba
Institution:	Real escuela superior de arte dramático de Madrid (RESAD)

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