Patricia Helsel
The Robber Bridegroom: Concept and Research
The Workshop format of this production allowed actors and designers (and me) to experiment with found objects. The Robber Bridegroom is a play-within-a-play. Our premise was to tell the story through present day inhabitants of the town of Rodney, Mississippi.
Rodney, Mississippi, is now a ghost town along the historic Natchez Trace. Plantations have withered and decayed and have been replaced by trailer parks and weathered, depression era houses. Since the play requires the story to be told within the context of a "modern" setting, we decided to set the play outside the dilapidated trailer of "Jamie," the premise being that the story is told during a party, with friends (and "townspeople") recalling the legend of the robber bridegroom. All props and costumes for telling the story would be created from objects that might be found in debris surrounding a run down property.
The designers and I researched dumps and considered the many items discarded by the wayside. The designers de-constructed many of the items to become practical costumes or set pieces. As the story unfolds, the actors grab items from the junk heap to become props, costumes, and scenery. I knew I wanted the band on stage, to be an “organic” part of the production. The need was met by adapting a pickup truck to carry the band to the stage. Every costume and prop was pulled from the junk pile or “trailer park” locale. Shopping carts became boats, awnings became skirts, crib mattresses turned into pirogues.
This is the concept statement as it was presented to the design and production team.
