Brecht's "Baal" - Directorial Vision

I have long professed that I am one of the few stage managers with no desire to direct. When I read a play, it doesn’t occur to me to think through how to stage it, and when I work a show, I’m happy to take the director’s vision and run. For “Baal,” I will make an exception, if only on paper. We will assume I can direct, and this is my pitch meeting.
My production would be set in a 1930’s traveling carnival, à la HBO’s Carnivàle. The space would be outdoors amongst large cloth tents, and the audience would walk from scene to scene. No matinees allowed – only night performances, well after sunset. The experience would begin at the ticket window, with peanut and popcorn salespeople milling about, along with some tastes of what’s to come: a fortune teller, magician, perhaps a Three-card Monte trickster or weight guesser while the patrons wait for the play to begin. It is important that no interaction with a “carny” worker pre-show end with a good outcome for the patron. Their fortune should be dark, their weight should be guessed high, or their card game should not go well. They should be set up for failure. I don’t know if it’s historically correct, but I want a dunk tank, if only to set up an idea for Sophie later. It would be a bonus if we could outfit the place with outhouse-like restrooms.
I think I could get by with as few as three large cloth tents. All outside or forest scenes would be played outdoors. The remaining scenes – bars (Scenes 3, 7, 9, 13, 18) are Tent 1, Baal’s attic apartment (Scenes 2-4) are Tent 2, and cabins (Scenes 11 and 21 – also Scene 1, giving plenty of time for transformation) would be Tent 3. If we can budget one Tent more, all the better, being able to keep Scene 1 as-is and take it easy on the crew.
Sound design other than music is unnecessary. I am not a musician, so though Brecht has provided sheet music for some of the songs, I would ask my music director to keep it carnival-esque: lots of hurdy gurdy (as the play references), and certainly musicians who can move about as the audience moves – banjo, accordion, maybe a flute. The actor portraying Baal, of course, will have a guitar handy as needed.
I envision the show with shadowy lighting. I have no problem whatsoever with the use of modern lighting instruments, and think Brecht would agree. Patrons know they’re seeing a show, for heaven’s sake. I see strings of colorful lights strung from tent to tent, and of course the ticket booth will be quite bright, but otherwise, just suggestions of light well enough for the audience to see the actors.
The cast, as written, is huge. I think I could boil the actors down to 7-10 actors. I thought for a bit that perhaps all of Baal’s girlfriends/conquests could be played by the same actress, but I’ve changed my mind. I think that Emily, Johanna, Louise, and Sophie should be different actresses but that the remaining female roles could be taken on by one actress with various costume changes.
The actors who are not in ongoing scenes would become sideshow performers throughout the play. I understand Brecht’s wish for the words to be important, so I wouldn’t toss potentially scene-stealing sideshow acts into every scene, but I have thoughts on where that could work. Baal’s apartment, for example, would be absent of sideshow. But I think the audience should get a small taste of what’s coming in Scene 1, with perhaps a contortionist in place during Scene 1, just there, in a corner, doing their act, not a lot of movement. All of the bar scenes, would be perfect for sideshow during actual scenes. Scene 3 could perhaps have a bearded lady, a sword-swallower or a Siamese twin-like act going on in a corner while the scene unfolds. Scene 16 would certainly have a snake-charmer off to the side of the outside area (forest) while the scene goes on – a nice phallic suggestion never hurt anybody.
Costumes in general for the men should be browns and blacks – nothing showy. The ladies should have some color, but maybe muted pinks and mustards. Costuming the character of Baal has me a bit stumped. He should be dressed as if he belongs there at the carnival. At first I thought just a carny: dirtied-up, sleeves rolled, maybe a bit greasy, but that doesn’t make him stand out in any way. But maybe he shouldn’t. He’s not a man of means, so he doesn’t own the place. He sings, but has no will to do much else, so dressing him as some other type of performer would imply he would care to perform above and beyond what he does best. I think the carny worker costume is the way to go – perhaps making him pop with color – a burgundy or orange against more muddied colors of the others would do the trick. I want no one to look clean – perhaps with the exception of some of the characters in Scene 1. I want dinge to be the rule of the day.
I would like no curtain call. Perhaps a carnival barker or the musicians leading people out of Tent 3, but they’ve been brought down with Baal and don’t need to applaud the actors as a company. As the patrons exit and return to their vehicles, I would very much like the dunk tank to have remained in place, and have either the actress playing Sophie, or a dummy to look like her, to be floating dead (drowned) in the tank. Ekart should be slumped dead against the tank as well – he will have adequate time to get into place from Tent 1 where he was killed in Scene 18.
I think it is important that the audience come away with an experience. The staging of “Baal” in this arena – pun intended – would spread via word-of-mouth and bring audience who might normally not attend regular theater, much like sideshows of long ago, just to see what the heck is going on, for themselves. Producers welcome.