Red Velvet Cake War is first and foremost a comedy. The action is fast paced and chaotic, so my first priority was to give opportunity to stage scenes across a large interesting area. I separated spaces with a column relief, change of wall color and a higher elevation in the upstage portion. This, combined with the furniture strategically laid throughout the scene, greatly enhanced the many comical chase scenes that came and went through any of the three entrances. I chose to place the kitchen door upstage center since the action centers around a baking competition. I also made it a swinging kitchen door purely for comical reasons, since there are many points in the performance where entrances and exits are separated by mere moments. Getting the balance on the door's swing was a challenge in a temporary wall construction, but by working alongside the shop crew we were able to get it stable and swinging loose.
The stage right door leads to the rest of the house as well as the back yard, where the final chaotic southern family reunion develops. The house itself is quite old and since it was inherited it is not well maintained. This was communicated through the scene painting that shows clear wear on the walls. Worthless knickknacks are also strewn about every surface, just as they were left by the deceased grandmother.
The stage left door is the main entrance used for introducing new characters. The bay window and bench further upstage was a common touch on these old Victorian houses and provided a great view through which the audience could view the power of the tornado as it threatened the family reunion.
This is my draft of the scenery for Red Velvet Cake Wars. I provided elevations of each entrance to ensure clarity in construction.
This is the time capsule from which the girls attempt to steal a secret red velvet cake recipe in order to win their baking competition. Apparently, it was not sufficiently waterproofed so the recipe was destroyed, but the Velveeta block was still edible.
This scene was one of the few that took place in neighboring home. To solve this, we built a small wall to depict a kitchen and just flew it in. The evening after this photo was taken, I super glued a set of decorative dishes and spices to a wood plank, then screwed that to the shelves. This was flown up and down to make sure it would be secured for our performance. At the end of the performance we just removed the plank so there was no damage to the spice rack
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Red Velvet Cake War
My first venture as lead scene designer for a theatrical production. Red Velvet Cake War was a Spring production by the Twin City Stage directed by Stan Bernstein.
