From Page to Stage: How Theatre Designers Make Connections Between Scripts and Images [Paperback]

Rosemary Ingham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0435070428 | ISBN-13: 978-0435070427

How does a designer harness something as elusive as the human imagination to create a set that will complement and enhance a dramatic production? What steps are involved in making the jump from a script's text to an engaging imaginative stage?

In From Page to Stage, author Rosemary Ingham explores the relationships between text analysis, imagination, and creation. Heavily illustrated with striking examples, the book covers:

• the who, what, where, how, and (maybe) why of text analysis
• moving from dramatic text to theatrical event
• imagination and knowing: what imagination is and how it relates to memory
• what happens when the designer's imagination meets the script
• and much more.

Also included are photo/interview essays, in which Ingham ultimately asks the designer "how will your interpretation affect an audience/individual/society intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and politically?"

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rosemary Ingham is a costume designer and writer. Her design work has been seen at regional theatres across the country for more than three decades.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann Drama (May 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0435070428
• ISBN-13: 978-0435070427
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best (and only) Book of its Kind-So Far., November 16, 2004

By 

Sean O'Skea (Ashland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Page to Stage: How Theatre Designers Make Connections Between Scripts and Images (Paperback)

I use this book as the text for Principles of Design for the Performing Arts--an intro to design course I teach. It's really the only book of its kind (with a design emphasis) available. While I could load up my students with four or five other books that would be far better in each respective area, From Page to Stage is the only text that brings them together in a compact and digestible form. The book is an easy read--important for a class top-heavy with studio work, and an adequate introduction to script analysis for design. That said, I think the book is long overdue for a serious second edition. Professor Ingham should consider dropping the odd, theater history chapter toward the end of the book, in favor of a massively expanded chapter on the actual execution of the design/collaboration process. The final chapter briefly touches on the actual "to stage" process. By far most of the book is devoted to the "from page" half. This is surprising as Ingham is herself a noted costume designer and would obviously have much to share in that area. There is next to nothing describing the production meeting process, communication with colleagues and directors, and the final steps in the production process. It's as if two or three chapters are missing from the end of the book.
Don't get me wrong, I use this book, I recommend this book, and it isn't as if there is some better alternative--I'm simply eager to buy the greatly expanded second edition--should it ever appear.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book for all designers, May 4, 2004

By 

J. Mitchell (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Page to Stage: How Theatre Designers Make Connections Between Scripts and Images (Paperback)

Rosemary Ingham really captured the fundamentals of what it takes in creating and collaberating a design. Her book is full of examples of sources of inspiration, forms of play analysis, commentary on the NEA, and transcripts of directors and designers communicating ideals. This is a wonderful book and it belongs on every designers shelf.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great for beginners, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: From Page to Stage: How Theatre Designers Make Connections Between Scripts and Images (Paperback)

This book is a great help for me since this is my 1st year at theater stage design