Here are a couple of (what I find amusing) anecdotes of set and performers and the trouble they get into when put in the same room.
Macbeth (or the set that tried to get me)
People often speak of the "cursed" Scottish Play (so much so they dare not call it by its given name)
In all likelihood, Macbeth was performed in rep after a particular tragedy (death/sickness in the cast), because it is such a short play requiring very few actors (half the cast is ill? Put on Macbeth!)
So Macbeth probably gained a sinister reputation due to the face that people fell ill before it was performed.
That being said, Macbeth tried to kill me.
And by that I mean the set.
The set was...interesting...
(DON'T JUMP!)
Yes, that is a picture of the set.For those who didn't see it there was an upper platform and a relatively bare stage on the ground.
The upper platform was connected by stairs of shall we say varying height?
No that is not a picture from our set.
And that isn't what is looked like.
This actually gives a better idea of how the stairs felt.
There were no railings.
They were winding and occasionally very steep.
Running up and down was actually a dangerous activity.
As Macbeth I had to do it.
I will say it was very terrifying during tech/dress rehearsal.
Because it was the first time working on this set, but also in costume with floor length robes, fur, and ribbons trailing.
I thought I was going to die.
But, by repeating my blocking over and over, I was able to become comfortable and engage with the set as if it were my own (poorly constructed) house.
Oh, there was also a metal grate in the middle of the wooden floor.
I bring it up because I had to lift it without gloves.
The grating bit right into my fingers, slicing them like grapes.
I still have the emotional scars.
When I brought this up, I was told the problem was taken care of.
It hurt a lot for already being fixed.
Gross Indecency and the Tables of Doom
Now back at me.
Now, back at the set.
Now, back at me (I'm in the back).
That stage is raked towards the audience.
We are standing on a 30 degree (?) incline.
So all of us are on our heels the whole time.
I saw Alec (the gentleman advancing) slip a number of times as he made that cross simply because it is a weird frigging angle to walk on.
Bevin (judge in the very back) stood like that for almost two hours...in heels.
Those tables are set at angles to one another.
One upstage.
One downstage.
During intermission they are switched.
One night that didn't happen.
To begin the play I have a fast cross upstage.
But, as I crossed upstage, I bumped my hip into a table edge.
It hurt.
A lot.
I wondered about it while I stood in the background for fives minutes.
And then, I realized, everything was backwards.
THE TABLES WERE ALREADY SWITCHED!
All the blocking had to be turned around!
It was an exciting fives minutes.
Because at the end of those five minutes, the actors moved the tables back.
During the show.
So what it must have looked like was the defendant (Oscar Wilde) and his attorney decided to move their god damn table.
Because reasons.
Funniest thing that happened during that show.
Marat/Sade and the Heels I Dreaded.
This set was raked 15 degrees to the side.
So now we have a stage trying to kick us off.
I am in the back.
The one in the nun outfit.
I was in heels and a floor length robe (dress).
Where in Gross Indecency, I relied on my leaning back to counter the rake of the stage:
I was in heels.
All my weight wanted to travel forward.
I felt like I was going to fall off every single night.
The patients were barefoot.
I thought I would stomp them to death.
So I decided to be very gentle with them.
The tub had wheels and could be maneuvered around the stage.
Which was terrifying, but I want to be very fair.
Those locks were monstrous.
When the actor was locked in place he was going NOWHERE.
Now, that being said, he had to be locked in.
Some nights that step was missed.
He only rolled a little before engaging it himself.
Boeing Boeing takes Flight
This was a beautiful set to play on.
Boeing is a door farce.
It requires precise timing with distance and door choreography (dooreography)
When we got onstage for the first time in tech, it took a couple of runs to get the groove.
Then, props were added and costumes.
It was a nightmare.
For me.
I played the butler.
See me? In the back?
I had to shift everything.
Sometimes mid show.
I transformed that whole space regularly.
Every show.
All alone.
I was a beast.
But, it took some doing.
I was tired by the end of it.
But, it was one of the most rewarding experiences because the set was difficult to manage.
Not because it was poorly designed, but there was so much available to do.
It was a bar and an office and a kitchen and...a home.
What surprised me most was how much it changed from tech to opening.
The littlest touch like the lamp shades and the map on the wall and the flowers on the table transformed a sparse design to a fully realized home.
The set became a character in the farce and played with us.
Sometimes it went perfectly smoothly and sometimes it was very naughty.
(One night one of those doors refused to close and I had to slam it...for comedic effect).
I will say this though.
I played the butler.
The script called for six doors:
- The entrance
- The guest room
- The master bedroom
- The bathroom
- The kitchen
- A non-specific location
The non-specific location was changed to be an outdoor terrace.
Which was beautiful
But, when I said I was retiring for the night and going to bed and packing my things, I realized:
IT WAS MY BEDROOM!
The designer and director had designed away my bedroom.
I brought it up and I never got a satisfactory answer.
Eventually it was agreed that I would sleep in the kitchen.
Finally, we end with my favorite set/theatre space:
Empty Theatres
To this day there is nothing I find more calming than an empty theatre.
No set.
No audience.
No director.
No actors.
Just me.
And the stage.
It is a meditative practice that I find deeply calming.
I think about all of the sets and performances and performers that have crossed the boards.
Ghosts in the wings I have heard said before.
Theatre is an ephemeral creation.
Unlike other artistic mediums (save other performance art) we make something that doesn't last anywhere save in memory.
I like to remember as much as I can while in a theatre and imagine other shows.
This is my favorite place and time.
I don't know how many share this pastime of mine (standing in empty theatres), but if you haven't as a performer, try it sometime.
It is deeply moving.
I am not sure if you can conclude anything from my anecdotal situations.
But, a lot goes into performance.
Set is crucial because it is the hard limit.
You cannot play over there if there is a wall in the way.
Set tends to be the hard boundary and I am grateful for it.
But, it is important to treat it as part of the performance and finding ways to integrate it can be tricky for performers as well as designers.
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