The Setting

Abstract

One of the most important ways in which effects of balance and unity can be achieved is through the director’s control of the visual impact of the play. The idea that each production should have its own set and costumes is a comparatively modern one, probably related to our belief in the importance of environmental influence on character. No setting can be completely neutral: a bare stage makes as much of a statement about the director’s view of the play as one which represents a fishing village on an island off the coast of Dalmatia (Old Vic, 1950), the Balkans in the age of Byron (Prospect Touring Production, 1967), or a Berlin nightclub in the 1920s (Phoenix, Leicester, 1981). A pretty, highly stylised setting implies that we are to be ready for improbabilities of plot and emotion; a production full of realistic detail asks for a corresponding reality of feeling. But the two are not incompatible. In the 1955 Russian film, directed by Yan Fried, the peacocks strutting across the courtyard of Olivia’s realistic palace were not only delightful to look at, they also symbolised the self-love and self-display in the play.