When the cage at the back of the stage rises I would use a profile spot so all the audience focus upon is the cage. Mainly I would use flood lamps so when the family are having discussions all the family can be seen clearly. I would not use any color lights through out the play because I think the play would look more creepy and exaggerated if just normal lamps where used. I may use many different colors after Gregors death to show the happiness and color in the families life’s once Gregor has gone.
I believe that having a gobo of a beetle shine down onto the families “territory” when Gregor metamorphosis would be really effective visually because it would create great tension through the audience. The gobo could then stay there through out the play and it could become less clear as the family rejects Gregor more and more and then finally when Gregor dies the Gobo could disappear.
I think that costumes are very important in metamorphosis because they create different statuses among the characters. I would have the costumes for my characters as Mr. Samsa wearing a dark gray suit; it would be very bland but look quite intimidating, like a German war suit, this would show his dark angry emotions. Mrs. Samsa would be wearing a long gray skirt, a white top ad a baggy gray jumper, this would show her housewife status and mum like personality. Greta would be a wearing a long white dress to show her purity and kindness. At the beginning of the lay gregor would be wearing a dark brown very cheap tatty looking suit to show how much of a hard working young man he is and then when he metamorphosised the character would have to be wearing something that is suitable for him to move around the stage as a beetle so he would have to black tights with a black vest. I think the chief clerk would be wearing a very expensive well-made suit, this is so he looks more important than all the other characters on stage.
Using make up in plays is very useful because it is needed so the audience can see all the facial expressions on the characters clearly. I think because the play is very puppet like and uses very robotic movements it would be a good idea to put white makeup on all the characters so they all look very serious and similar when they all move together. I think this would be very creepy for the audience but would make them look at the characters in more depth and therefore get to know all the characters better. The only characters I wouldn’t put makeup on is the lodgers but only because they are wearing pig masks to represent their greediness.
Aural
In metamorphosis sound is used to show internal factors such as feelings, sound is also used a lot to show the family working together like with the ritualized chanting, a clock is used so the ticking help keep the family in time with their movements and the ticking represents the movement of time also. Others sounds are also used for example Greta playing the violin and Gregor scurrying around his bedroom.
When Greta plays the violin in the play I would actually have her character play the instrument instead of having recorded sounds because I think it would really capture the audiences attention and make them feel as if they where part of the play. There are other pats of the play when I would use recorded sounds like when Gregor scurries around his cage, I would do this so I could have the sound echoing out loudly all over the theater, this would create a scary loud atmosphere.
Depending on the size of the theater is whether or not I would use microphones, if the theatre was small enough I would rather have the characters speak with out microphones because it would make the mood of the play better and make you think your watching the play when it was set and not in present time.
Spatial
With the stage I am using there would be enough space to slit the stage up so each character can dominate part of the stage. I would have Gregors cage really big so when it is raised it dominates most of the space and shows the fear among the family.
The family are used most through out the play weather to show their own feeling or Gregors they are almost always being used so I would have them at the front of the stage, this means they are closer to the audience which means the audience can get to know the individuals better and watch them change as the play develops.
