Set Design Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Transcription

1 Set Design Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Winner of the Scotch n Soda Theatre Kudos Award for Best Set Design

2 Practically starting from scratch Guildenstern, Act i The lights slowly fade up on a stage, empty except for two messengers. They are traveling. It is dawn. It is dusk. Conceptually, it is the beginning and the end. For Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the messengers, it is an indeterminable hour and has been for quite some time. Over seven hours of paint-spraying created the gray-purple color of the drop. With some flats made to match, it serves as the limbo for the first part of Act I, in which Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are both trapped and lost. The flats differ from the drop in space, but not in color nor in texture. In this, they help create a vastness on the black stage. They seem like arbitrary landmarks, perhaps passed many times. The quasi-symmetry adds to the air of confusion. Upper left: model of the set. Above: Guildenstern gives a monologue Left: early color sketches Below: the set at the start of the show 2

3 That s why we re here Traveling. Rosencrantz, Act i It is not far into the show that the two messengers meet a wandering band of thespians-turned-prostitutes: the Tragedians. This troupe of seven players, including their leader, the Master Player, fill the stage with energetic performances and sensual tableaus. The stage had to be large enough to accomodate this large group. With the drop hanging from the only available electric bar, we had already cut out the majority of depth of the existing stage. We built an eight foot extension from plywood platforms. Beyond that, we added a thrust as well a catwalk that extended through the middle of the audience, blossoming out into another raised platform. This provided the actors with the stage space they needed. Above: groundplans of the set Left: model of the set Below: the set under construction 3

4 It costs little to watch, and little more if you happen to get caught up in the action The Master Player, Act i The Master Player pulls Rosencrantz and Guildenstern onto the stage so they can better appreciate the Tragedians performance. It is this precise moment, this ascension, which cues a lighting change and brings a darkened stage to life. Until this moment, Rosencrantz and Guildenstrn have been confined to the thrust of the stage. On the thrust, they weare but elevated audience members: observing and waiting for something to happen, somehow knowing it will involve them. A second ascension occurs three(?) scenes later, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try to figure out the root of Hamlet s depression. Guildenstern leaps onto the raised platform, the stage-within-a-stage, and begins to role-play. Their ascension to the raised platform is a theatrical allusion to their previous ascension to the stage. The play-within-a-play,the Murder of Gonzago, later takes place onf the raised platform. These ascensions symbolize the messengers increasing awareness of the theatrical reality. As they reach a new height, they cross the audience-actor boundary and enter a new reality. Upper right: the Tragedians tease Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Above: thumbnail of the raised platform Left: thumbnail of the heights in the stage, catwalk, and raised thrust Right: rejected concept for the shape of the thrust 4

5 Shouldn t we be doing something constructive? Rosencrantz, Act i The Tragedians prepare the stage for their performance while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern argue with the Master Player whether actors should start on or off stage. In about one minute, the stage is set and the Tragedians are off, ready to enter. But, it is not the Tragedians who enter. It is Hamlet and Ophelia. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are, to their surprise, at Elsinore castle. They have been summoned, but by whom and for what, they do not know. The Tragedians stage preparation is one very quick and very complex secene change. This change happens in full view of the audience. The limbo flats are hinged and swing out. They are then fastened into place with loosepin hinges. Attached to the top of some flats are pieces of luaun, cut and painted to create crenelation. These, too, swing to be fastened with loosepin hinges. It took hours of careful planning to find a way to transform five limbo flats into eight sturdy stone castle wall flats with crenelation. It would have been difficult enough to execute if the flats were attached to the stage, but these flats had to be freestanding and lightweight enough to be cleared off the stage entirely for the third act. Upper left: the Tragedians transform the set Above and below: thumbnails of the walls 5

6 What a shambles! We re just not getting anywhere. Guildenstern, Act iii Above: model of set Left: Guildenstern blocked by trick wall Below: detail of groundplan showing trick wall Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn from King Claudius that it was he, the king, who summoned them to find out what is troubling his nephew, Hamlet. Later, when trying to get off the stage, they quite literally run into the king and queen, who block their path and tell them that they must excort Hamlet to England. Over the course of the show, it becomes apparent to the audience as well as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that the pair of messengers are always blocked from leaving the stage, whether it is from begin plowed over by Claudius and Getrude, trampled by the Tragedians, or their own bumbling. Even walls appear to stop them from escaping their fate. This wall was painted on a vinyl curtain and pulled down by the Master Player. She secured it to the frame with velcro. 6

7 Saucy! Rosencrantz, Act ii foam, painted after being coated with a shellac sealant. The mermaid was paraded out during the intermission between Acts II and III and quickly attached the the very front of the stage thrust with loosepin hinges. This placed the figurehead in the middle of the stage, putting breats at eye level. The Tragedians, Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern start off Act III on a ship bound for England. The ship happens to have a beautful mermaid figurehead. We knew we wanted to use a mermaid figurehead from the start (incidentally, I never saw the movie version of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead until we were well into production; I guess there s just something about this show that says mermaid.). While ransacking our scene shop months later, we were delighted to discover a female s upper torso and head made from plaster gauze wrap. To save construction time, we decided to recycle that torso and face. It is still a mystery whose breasts they are. We built the rest of the mermaid body using wire mesh, covering the mesh with more plaster guaze wrap. We covered the hardened gauze with wood putty and sanded that down to get a paintable surface. The hair and tail are carved from blue Upper left: model of set Above: detail of elevation plans Right: me and the mermaid Below: the mermaid under construction in our scene shop 7

8 and then where would you be? Apart from inside a box. Rosencrantz, Act ii While sailing for England, the ship is attacked by pirates. Everyone dives for cover in some storage crates. Somehow, all seven Tragedians fit into one, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern leap into anothe, and Hamelt takes a third by himself. Then, as the attack subsides, the messengers and the Master Player peek out to check if the coast is clear. Realizing the pirates have left, as well as the crate which contained Hamlet, they climb out. With Hamlet gone, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are once again without purpose. That is, until they check their instructions and discover that their letter to the king of England seals their fate with a death sentence. The crate trick is simple enough. The crates have no bottoms. When they are set on the platform during the second intermission, the run crew is careful to not reveal this to the audience. The raised platform has three carefully cut trapdoors. The real trick was in keeping the trapdoors sturdy enough so the raised platform could be used without concern of collapse, especially during the Murder of Gonzago. The crates serve as position markers for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in their final death tableau on the raised platform while the end of Hamlet is playerd out on the main stage below. Above: Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and the Master Player check to see if the pirates have left Below: early sketch detailing one idea for making the trapdoors 8

9 Photographs by Samuel Levitan, Adam Pennington, and Adam Shlian. Thank you to everyone who helped with this set, from conception to construction. 9