Anything Goes (Trafalgar Releasing) | © Manuel Harlan
'I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage.'
– Peter Brook, Theatre Director
In today's blog, we're sharing a curated resource selection to help you introduce key concepts in theatre design through a varied lens, including Cole Porter's Anything Goes, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, and more DT+ productions...
Theatre Design in Musical Theatre
When it comes to theatre design, there's no better place to start than with musical theatre, and we recommend checking out The Barbican's 2022 revival of Anything Goes!
Starring Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney, this production received nine Olivier Award nominations, and demonstrates the importance of theatre design in creating a musical theatre essential: spectacle.
As explained in our Key Concepts in Musical Theatre series:
'Many musicals rely on spectacle for their appeal. Costumes, scenery, and lighting all play a significant role in how a production affects us, and the creative interplay of live performance, technology, and craft is key to the impact of a musical.'
In Anything Goes, set aboard an ocean liner, the glamorous 1930s costumes help to 'signpost' key contextual information to the audience, while also setting the tone and themes of the musical: wealth, appearance, and disguise.
Discover more musicals on DT+ in our BroadwayHD collection!
Collaboration in Theatre Design
As London Theatre wrote in their review of Anything Goes, 'John Morrell's fabulous period costumes [are] perfectly matched by Derek McLane's set, a gleaming white ship with eye-catching Art Deco detail', highlighting the collaborative nature of every element in theatre design.
As part of our Demonstrating Theatre Design series, award-winning set designer Lulu Tam shares insights and gives a practical demonstration into how to design a set for theatre, and how her team 'creates a visual language that will reflect what is happening on stage', ideal for introducing set design principles to any beginner.
Alongside Anything Goes, this collaborative approach to theatre making can be seen in L.A. Theatre Works' 2011 production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Students can explore this further through the Technical Theatre annotations in our Interactive Playtext of Wilde's classic comedy of manners:
Explore our Interactive Playtext series in this blog!
In this moment, the stage direction for Lady Bracknell to 'sweep out in majestic indignation' is emphasized by the ornate, expansive set design.
This exit is made more dramatic by her standing, perfectly framed between the open curtains. As she delivers her lines, the similarities between her costume and the blues of the wallpaper, curtains, and furniture serve to drive home her speech: Jack will never be worthy of Gwendolyn, because he does not fit in with the upper-class world around them.
Watch the full production of L.A. Theatre Works' The Importance of Being Earnest with a free trial!
The Value of Minimalist Theatre Design
When teaching theatre design with DT+, the spectacle of Anything Goes and the upper-class setting of The Importance of Being Earnest are made all the more interesting when contrasted with more minimalist design projects.
For example, Cheek by Jowl's 2015 production of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi has been praised for its' ability to move 'between elegance and hideous indignity'. Set in a sophisticated, bourgeois apartment, Bordure walks around with a video camera in tow, and the violent 'sub-world' he sees is projected onto the walls of the beige apartment in flashing instances.
Similarly, Yaël Farber's 2015 version of The Crucible presents a stripped-back, minimal design, with Designer Soutra Gilmour using lanterns and 'swirls of smoke' to transport the audience to Salem, and more specifically, to the Witch Trials.
Watch The Crucible with a free trial to Digital Theatre+
In his review, The Guardian's Michael Billington called it 'an extraordinary production that preserves the integrity of Miller's language, while investing the action with a raw, visceral power.'
'Not even Farber can disguise the rhetorical melodrama of the final act. But everything about this production is of a piece, from the distressed walls of Soutra Gilmour's set –clearly derived from Paris's Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord – to the subliminal creepiness of Richard Hammarton's music and sound.’
Looking for more resources?
You can explore the full range of theatre design resources available with a free trial to Digital Theatre+. Submit this short form to get started today!
If you are already a customer, start with the Key Concepts in Theatre Design series.