by Janine Sobeck, dramaturg
In our production meetings, we've had the privilege of seeing the evolution of the scenic design for The Servant of Two Masters. Designer Eric Fielding and his assistant Logan Hayden have been hard at work at creating a set that reflects director Stephanie Breinholt's concept for the show.
The design accentuates Stephanie's vision of a production where all the visual elements have a timeless feel, with no specific time period. Located in a traditional Italian piazza, the set combines different period from the forced perspective of historical design to the "Laugh-in" style of doors and windows. The combination of these different elements, design styles and periods, creates the perfect stage for this zany production.
Here's a picture of Eric's original design.
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Set Design courtesy of Eric Fielding[/caption]
And currently, if you walk through the tunnel of the HFAC, you can see the different elements under construction.
The creative team began working on this production a little more than a year ago. In my role as production dramaturg, I was happy to create a website of resources first for the creative team, and then when we went into rehearsals, for the cast. And now that we are opening the show, the resources offer valuable perspectives to our audiences as well.
After months of rehearsing on a taped cement floor with acting blocks in place of benches and frames in place of doors, the company finally moves to the theatre space, to a stage with levels and furniture, working doors and chairs out in the audience. The beloved cherry orchard feels so much more real now.
Near the end of his life, Anton Chekhov who had suffered from tuberculosis and depression throughout his life, decided to move to the seaside town of Yalta in order to heal. On January 18, 1904, he wrote to his wife, the actress Olga Knipper, “I’m writing The Cherry Orchard very slowly. Sometimes I feel it’s a success, sometimes a failure…It’s all very ordinary, but that’s how things are, unfortunately.”