Scene Designer
The Scenic Designer, also called a scene designer or a set designer.
When Scenic Design began in the 19th century it’s main function was to provide a painted background for the actors and to indicate the place and period.
By the end of the 19th century the requirements for realistic settings and furniture to make the stage appear convincingly like the play’s actual setting became common enough to have a both a scenic artist and a scenic designer.
Scene design varies widely in style.
In the early 20th century a revolution against realistic stage design began. This revolution was started by Adolphe Appia of Switzerland and Gordon Craig of Britain.
These men were concerned with creating mood and
atmosphere. They used large
symbolic pieces of
scenery. They made theatrical design more expressive by using
platforms,
ramps,
steps,
panels, and
drapes.
The idea behind all this was to make the audience’s experience more theatrical by emphasizing language, sound, lighting, the actors’ presence, and the spectators’ imagination.
In the 1920s Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson introduced this so-called new-stagecraft to Broadway.