Coronado Playhouse
July - August, 2020 - CANCELLED
Originally planned for Coronado Playhouse’s 2020 Season, The Tragedy of King Richard III was to be an exciting approach to the play - viewing the political and physical battles of the of the Lancasters and the Yorks through the lense of The Godfather.
Due to the safety and health concerns arising from the Covid-19 outbreak, the production, understandably, had to be cancelled prior to casting.
With the background and design work completed, I wanted to share the thought process and elements that informed my concept, including the production’s original pitch deck.
“And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.”
– Richard, Act I, Scene i
Production Thesis.
Richard III is the story of a man that yearns for power and, once attained, wields it in a vindictive and cruel fashion. To slate his ambition, he brings about the deaths of family members and thrusts his nation into the havoc of civil war. Richard is an unrepentant villain who draws the audience into his evils by being both compelling and engaging.
To provide the audience with a strong narrative connection to a similarly compelling (and cruel) character, the production was to take design and tone inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather films.
The production was to capitalize on the audiences pre-existing understanding of The Godfather to explore Richard III’s themes of ambition, bruelty, betrayal and familial destruction.
Richard himself was going to be presented as a mirror of Michael Corleone (with elements of Fredo and Sonny Corleone mixed in as well). A compelling, yet evil character, that breaks the fourth wall as he lets the audience in on his machinations.
The opportunities for parallels between The Godfather films and Richard III were numerous - with scenes in the play easily mirroring moments from the films.
Design Elements.
Design concept by Dennis Floyd.
Reference still from The Godfather.
Setting.
The setting was to be amorphous and flexible. Set pieces were to be reminiscent of locations from the films (the Don’s study, the restaurant, Bonasera’s funeral home, etc.), with the primary design element was to invoke the courthouse steps from the assassination of Don Barzini. Set designer Dennis Floyd had developed a modular concept that would change locations fluidly throughout the production.
Lighting.
The lighting design would have defined the space and provided a chiaroscuro effect to illuminate specific areas of the stage while leaving others in darkness. This would have pulled focus and provided a warm glow of nostalgia of the 1940s and to evoke the cinematography of Gordon Willis. Designer Annee Morgan was ready to integrate traditional lighting elements with LED lights in specific set pieces to create a fully realized amber hue.
Sound.
The lone trumpet opening of The Godfather Waltz by Nino Rota immediately sets the tone and place for an audience - giving them a shorthand understanding of what was about to come. Zephyr Landie, our sound designer, was building an atmospheric sound design, pulling in elements of Rota’s expanded catalogue, to create an immersive aural experience for the audience that gave them the feeling of being in the world of The Godfather without specifically using the famed theme.
Costumes.
Our costume designer, Pam Stompley-Ericson, was sourcing costumes and designs built off the themes of The Godfather, with a specific focus on 1940s and 1950s business suits and casual wear for men, dresses and casual wear for women. This would have included period-specific military and police uniforms, hat-wear, and accent pieces.