An online adaptation of
Alexander, read by author
Judith Viorst with the
original illustrations

Click here to play

Behind the Scenes:
The Set Designer

The job of the Set Designer is to design the setting of the play and create a world on the stage that makes the play fun and enjoyable. A Set Designer begins work by reading the script of the play. From the script, the designer develops a concept and often reproduces this in the form of a sketch or a model. From these sketches and models, blueprints are drawn so the carpenters and shop staff know exactly what to build and in what dimensions. The Set Designer works with the other production staff such as the Props Manager and Costume Designer in order to create a continuous, clear design theme. The Set Designer and the Director discuss the set and decide exactly which props are needed. This is then relayed to the Props Manager. The Set Designer also attends rehearsals and refers to the book in order to create Alexander's world appropriately.

For Alexander… we decided that all of the set pieces, particularly the tables and chairs should be oversized. Because adults were cast in as children, it was important to create a children's world on stage where everything looks and feels very big and bright. Upstage of the action, serving as a backdrop, we placed four periactoids—tall triangular columns. Each periactoid has three sides and can be turned and moved easily about the stage to show different scenes at different times throughout the production. For Alexander… the opening position of the periactoids shows the words of the title, with "terrible", "horrible", "no good", and "very bad" painted in big letters. These faces remind the audience that they too can participate in the shouting of these words with Alexander.

An important part of the set design was keeping the set in the style of Ray Cruz's illustrations in the book. The only color section of the book is the cover (the rest of the illustrations are black and white) so we needed to guess on colors and decided to keep the scheme of the cover. The bed was designed exactly like that on the cover. The color scheme of pink, white, yellow, and blue from the cover was carried throughout the show in the chairs, the table, and even the periactoids. The quilt for Alexander's bed was a great challenge to reproduce. This was done by copying the pattern from the cover and projecting it on to T-shirt like material that was then sewn together.

Another necessity for the set was that it move easily on stage as well as transport easily between theaters. It was important to keep the set simple yet effective. It would be impossible to bring a car on stage and on tour, so a chair was used to represent a car. Also, instead of making walls and rooms, lighting was used to separate space and create different places on stage. Because there is no stage crew, the chairs, tables, props, periactoids, and even the "OKIDOKI" copy machine are moved and operated by the actors. The table needed to be able to roll and the chairs needed to be lightweight, yet rugged so they could be moved around and bumped and stood on without a problem. The bed and the periactoids are easy to assemble and disassemble for quick setup and breakdown as well as convenient travel. The props and other set pieces are easily packed and moved between theaters as well. Other parts of the set from the book were not built at all. In fact, it was decided that the actors themselves could play these parts of the set. For instance, Alexander's bathroom is all human furniture from the sink to the door.

The most important job of the set designer and the set itself is to create the world of each scene and the world of Alexander's imagination. The set needs to be able to transport the audience from school, to Australia, to the shoe store, and Dad's office quickly and easily—it must call on and challenge the imagination of children and adults alike.