Naima Khan spends some time in the company of one of London's most prominent set designers, Soutra Gilmour
Moon on a Rainbow Shawl at National Theatre and The Duchess of Malfi at The Old Vic have precious little in common. They've both received rave reviews, they share a closing date (9th June) and – if you think about it – the theme of escape. But what ties them both together in the least obvious way is Soutra Gilmour, their designer.
She has to her credit an impressive list of West End and off-West-End shows that have taken her conceptual work to heart and in some cases, as with the Argentinian staging of Piaf, travelled across the world with Soutra in tow. Three Days of Rain – the one with James McAvoy, Lyndsey Marshal and Nigel Harman – threw its characters into a dank, foreboding loft space inspired by the 101 Spring Street Studio of artist Donald Judd in New York. Then there was Reasons to be Pretty's multi-purpose container, which not only responded to the Almeida's architecture but established its very own. And if you were lucky enough to catch Double Feature at National Theatre's Paintframe, you won't have missed the sheer range of Soutra's work, which took us from grimy pubs to chaotic battlefields and intimidating cricket nets.
While she was simultaneously working on a worn, claustrophobic set for Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, the grand, foreboding set of The Duchess of Malfi and the box model for Antigone (soon to run at National Theatre), the camera-shy designer behind the art let photographer Alex Brenner and I document her work in production.
We begin in her tiny studio where two lovely assistants, Aaron Marsden (above) and Katie Lias have made us tea and are working on the box model from Soutra's Antigone designs.
At this stage the model is one 25th of the size of what will eventually fill the gargantuan stage at the National's Olivier Theatre in May. Right now, it's tucked away safely in that studio at the back of Soutra's garden.
While her assistants help get the ball rolling on Antigone, Soutra is at National Theatre's Cottesloe stage where the production team are fitting her designs for Moon on a Rainbow Shawl into place.
After the painting and the ageing comes the fitting – which is running ahead of schedule – followed by what seems like a comedy of errors as trees are manoeuvred up stairs and over doors. “Oops, someone's just collapsed under a table,” observes someone in the gallery, while a guy in a hard hat tries to remember what he's supposed to be doing.
As well as the set being moved in, a series of tables are placed among the seats ready for a minute-by-minute run through that will give the production team a chance to gauge the fine tuning that needs to be done: like what extra detail needs adding once the strong theatre lights bleach out some of the painting effects. The opening scene is the one that comes under most scrutiny, Soutra tells me, because it sets the world of the play.
With Antigone and Moon making steady progress, Soutra works on The Duchess of Malfi which will run a little further down the road at The Old Vic, where Finbar Lynch is having his costume fitted. As with hair and make up, costumes come under the designer's jurisdiction, which means Ray Emmet Brown (Prince in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl) can talk to her about relaxing his hair to get that 1940s look and the debauched cardinal can make sure he looks good in red.
He will masterfully plot and fornicate like crazy in this stunning space where Soutra's grand set of dark wood and intricate, opulent detail is diligently fitted into place.
At this stage, chandeliers are being hung and the sound deck below the stage is kitted out.
A team of about a dozen people – who actually say things like “stage right!” – work with a system of hoists and pulleys to get the set in place. If you look carefully, somewhere in the back, there's the tallest ladder a human has ever been expected to climb.
What you don't get a sense of yet, is the atmosphere, which I assumed came with the set. But it's the lighting and the performers reacting to that set that create the atmosphere, which in The Duchess of Malfi is palpable.
Both The Duchess of Malfi and Moon on a Rainbow Shawl run until 9th June and Anitgone begins previews from 23rd May.
All images copyright Alex Brenner except final image by Soutra Gilmour.
Like our Facebook page
Click here for Theatre in London
Click here for Things to do in London
Add an event
Scoping Out London’s Coolest Historic Bingo Halls
London’s bingo halls were once a bustling part of many of the city’s communities, but as...