Solange LaFitte is mooching backstage at the dilapidated New York theatre. Everyone has arrived at the Weismann follies reunion party, revisiting the venue where they were once the dazzling epitome of showgirl glamour. They’ve all grabbed a drink, squealed at long lost buddies and curled a lip at long-grudged rivals. Stephen Sondheim’s musical Follies (directed by Dominic Cooke at London's … [Read more...]
Propwatch: the strap-on in When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other
12 variations on a prop 1 garage There is stuff you expect to find in a garage. A car (an Audi, registration FE13 MXP). Metal shelving, peg board. Strip lighting that tints everything stark and queasy. A toolbox. Gaffer tape. An Amazon delivery box (there’s always a swoosh-marked Amazon box). They’re all here in Vicki Mortimer’s design. There’s also a strap-on. 2 set-up The plot of … [Read more...]
Propwatch: the curtain in Wise Children
Show me a stage curtain and my heart pit-a-pats with anticipation. They’re a rarer sight nowadays, but if I’m sat in front of some plush red folds before an opera or ballet, I’ll stare and stare throughout the overture, alert for every telltale twitch, jiggling with longing for the curtain to rise and the show to begin. Is a curtain – that fabric lodged in the fabric of the building – a prop? … [Read more...]