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Designing Shakespeare productions can seem like the ultimate challenge. You know the written material is priceless so the bar is automatically as high as it can get. I do not think general advice is going to be helpful since there are so many subtleties and variations from play to play. No, you are going to need an expert.

A great resource for designing Shakespearian sets is a UK program called "Designing Shakespeare" that aims to help people cultivate the proper design most conducive to a good production. They are well in touch with Shakespearian sensibilities and the decorations of that time period.

They have videos of set design as well as interviews with dozens of experts discussing exactly this subject. You can find them online at www.ahds.ac.uk/performingarts/ collections/designing-shakespe are.htm.

The thing I have found most helpful about this site is the text database of production details. This also contains excerpts from theatre reviews which refer to design. All of this adds up to a veritable Library of Shakespearian Design of epic proportions.

I think that with this website and your own sensibilities on the matter that you will be able to handle this gargantuan task with relative ease. Of course this is not to say that you cannot go your own route and try something different. Just remember that you have to know the rules to break them.

Learn more about this author, Royce Radcliffe.
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