23: 2009 - The Importance Of Being Earnest

 

This was a first for us, surprisingly. That's "surprising" in the sense that, in 25 years of amateur dramatics, we've never had to have two completely different sets for a single play before. There have been several that shifted scenes, notably Farndales and pantos, but they have always been largely set-less and relied upon furniture, props, curtains and a painted back wall to convey the appropriate idea. They also had the advantage of being none-too-serious productions, which allowed the staging to be equally frivolous.

...Earnest, on the other hand, is a more serious affair and needs credible staging. The idea of working without a set had some appeal, but not much. Every other part of the play was to be in period, with extravagant costumes and authentic props: it seemed a bit cheap not to put a similar effort into the surroundings.

So, two complete sets it was: one a town flat, the other a country garden. Changing from one to the other had to be feasible in around fifteen minutes. Both had to be credible, but not necessarily over-decorated or fussy: quite the opposite, in fact - the sets should stop at being a sufficiently realistic frame in which to place the actors.

The starting-point was the fixed stage right wall. A set of French windows which could serve, with curtains and a hardboard panel, as an interior wall with window in Act I and an exterior wall in Act II. The back wall, painted in the same colour, would do as it was for the interior set, then a canvas garden backdrop lowered into place for the other. Most of the stage left garden could be put into place, then concealed behind a removable set of hinged flats during Act I. Other than that, it would just be furniture, and the attendant difficulties of moving it on and off stage in the interval.

The backdrop was sourced from Pyramid Visuals. We probably could have done it ourselves, but factoring the cost of materials and the practicalities of laying out and painting a 25' canvas, it seemed best to let the professionals take that particular strain. Pyramid were excellent, in any case, and a pleasure to work with. Everything else was fairly straightforward to obtain or build and, with a little practice, the set change was possible in about ten minutes.

It may have been a long time coming, but it was nice to discover that, even on a stage as compact as ours, we can still find ways to do something new.