Wild Duck: Me as a Director (Blog #9)

In act 1, it would seem as the study which Pettersen and Jensen are cleaning and tidying up is a huge dark room, lit by a couple candles in parts of the room but mainly lit by the fire place, which would have two huge arm chairs facing it. Since Pettersen and Jensen are of servant status, they would be dressed not in the finest clothes but more rags and clothing of less value. I would also have Pettersen and Jensen's skin color to be significantly darker than those that they are serving, showing their status as servants. In the scene where all the guests are done with dinner and are going to the music room to have coffee, I would have all the guests come out in groups of 3 or 4 to show the differences among the guests, such as the flabby gentlemen and the thin haired gentlemen. All the guests would be wearing fine clothing, dark suits and tall hats to complete their high class image.

This would be something like the room in where Hialmar and Greger caught up with each other after a long period of time without talking.

Clothing of the guests, such as Werle, who hosted the party.

In the scene where Hialmar and Greger have their conversation, I would have the room completely emptied of all the characters except them. In this setting, I would have the room to be very dark with only the fire place as a source of light, to increase the intensity of their conversation. Since Greger seems very surprised by all of Hialmar's news I would have Greger move around a lot in his chair with different expressions on his face to show his "enlightenment" of Hialmar's life. The chairs that they would be sitting on would be huge, and look very comfortable to bring out a sense of Werle's wealth.

A list of facial expressions to show all the emotions Hialmar and Greger may have expressed towards each other during the play.

Hialmar and Greger would be resting on chairs like these to reminisce about old times and catch up with on another.

After their conversation, when all the guests return to the study, I would have the room re-lit with other light sources such as candles and lanterns. While the conversation and joking is going on between the guests and Mrs. Sorby, I would have Hialmar sit in his seat very awkwardly and quietly, maybe even a couple sweat drops coming down his forehead, to show that something is bothering him. At this point, I would also have some of the guests be drunk and loud, to show that they have been having doing their own thing, not concerning Hialmar or Greger. When Hialmar does not acknowledge his father, I would have the atmosphere in the entire room to be very awkward.