After months of planning, drawing, discussing, measuring, cutting and hammering, the big day has arrived when the set for The Crescent’s production of The Vortex starts to take shape on stage.
Pictured are Keith Harris and Judy O’Dowd who – along with a team of helpers – have put in many hours of work to get us to this stage smoothly and with the minimum of hassle. They’re seen here erecting the central wall of the set which will fly in and out to help create three different settings for each of the play’s three acts.
If you want to see the full effect you’ll have to come see the play which opens on Saturday, 5 September!
I was asked recently if using “The Shopping and F***ing of the jazz age” as the strap line for The Vortex is just a piece of sensationalism, this is Noel Coward after all! Well, I don’t believe it is at all an unjustified quote and, if you’d like to read it in context, here’s Charles Spencer’s full article from the Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3671468/The-Vortex-Noel-Cowards-hothouse-drama.html
As Mr Spencer explains in his review of last year’s West End revival, Mr Coward could be “daringly experimental” and this is something that I am enjoying exploring together with the cast of The Crescent’s forthcoming production.
Almost every line has several levels of meaning and there is much that is unsaid between the characters as they swirl downwards in their vortex of beastliness. Of course, the trademark frothy comedy is there (in bucket loads), but this really is a beautifully crafted play that keeps on throwing up surprises.
Looking back from our own, very different age where in-yer-face theatre is almost commonplace, it’s hard to imagine how a play could be considered for banning by the Lord Chamberlain. The one thing that still rings true to our own age, though, is the nature of the conflict – the lack of understanding, the addictions, the obsession with youth – and it is this that makes this a play for today just as much as it was a play for the generation seeking to come to terms with life in the years following the Great War.
The inspiration for the set design for The Vortex is the work of Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). Even if you don’t know the name, his works may well be familiar to you – just think vertical and horizontal black lines with the occasional block of primary colour (red, yellow or blue). This movement in the art world became known as neo-plasticism and Mondrian was its chief exponent. In his work he sought to reveal the timeless, spiritual order underlying the endlessly changing appearance of the world.
This, it seems to me, is an ideal setting for the world of Noel Coward’s play: the central characters (Nicky and Florence) have become obsessed with the fashions of the ever changing world and its new thrills, while losing sight of the things that matter. It’s only when they reconnect to each other and throw out the distractions of sex and drugs that they can hope to have a constructive relationship and lead meaningful lives. Home is where the heart is, and this is what Florence and Nicky have lost sight of.
Mondrian, it can be argued, was at his prime in the 1920s and his work was influencing designers and architects (especially those associated with Bauhaus) at this time. It is entirely possible, therefore, that rooms such as I’ve designed for the play might have existed. However, I’ve been more concerned to create an un-naturalistic canvas upon which the action of the play can unfold. As ever, I’m concerned that the audience should focus on the actors and what they have to communicate through words, actions and reactions.
Rehearsals are well under way for September’s season launching production of Noel Coward’s The Vortex (http://www.crescent-theatre.co.uk/Y2009/vortex.html).
For the last couple of rehearsals the cast has been getting to grips with fox trots, quick steps, tangos and even the odd Charlston step as they learn to move themselves about the stage in a truly authentic 1924 fashion. Under the expert eye of Michael Barry, the cast has learnt to swish and swoosh to some wonderful period music.
Today (Sunday, 26 July) we looked at the opening of Act II which Mr Coward describes as: “…exceedingly difficult to produce, but absolutely indispensable.” Well, the good news is that by the end of the rehearsal Michael’s excellent tutelage and the cast’s hard work came together to make it all appear almost effortless.
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