Sydney Theatre Company’s world premiere of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, adapted and directed by Kip Williams, has received incredible reviews
The production utilises video as a means to reflect the way we construct our sense of self-obsession, ideal for The Picture of Dorian Gray. This is a one-person adaptation so actor Eryn Jean Norvill plays every character. The multiple cameras allow her to create those characters as well as the world of Victorian-era England.
“The single biggest challenge of lighting this production is the hoary old one of simultaneously lighting for the “naked” eyes of the audience and the constantly present and very different “eyes” of the cameras,” commented lighting designer Nick Schlieper. “The light that a camera likes, is just about the quintessential opposite of the light that I at least, like to see on a stage. Apart from the issues of colour and quality balance between the live and the screen image, the high contrast values typical of most theatre lighting and certainly of mine, are absolute anathema to the camera. The very contrast ratios that help to make a performer feel closer to the back rows of an 860-seat theatre, are usually enough to blow the iris (and the brain!) of a camera.”
This familiar problem is seriously compounded when the cameras are predominantly moving around the solo performer so that even in film-only terms, you constantly have to light around 360 degrees – there is no “front” or “back” and hence, neither is there such a thing as frontlight or backlight in the normal sense of the terms. Potentially, that’s a recipe for massive blandness, even just in terms of the screen images, let alone for the audience looking directly at the stage.
“The salient part of that, is that we always set out to make a show that worked on both levels simultaneously,” noted Nick. “Otherwise we would have just made a film! So it’s not only an issue of keeping the screen images looking good and appropriate but constantly balancing that against the live, direct view. In short, it’s an incredibly technical exercise.”
Then there’s the integration of live video feed with pre-recorded footage. This is the dimension that allows the extraordinary Eryn Jean Norvill to both narrate the show and play over two dozen characters, frequently in dialogue with herself. Although the production team spent a week back in January 2020 workshopping an array of story-telling tools, the final show was produced in a standard 5-week rehearsal period plus tech week. This meant that right from week one, they were already shooting the pre-recorded sections for one or two days every week. These were predominantly shot in the rehearsal room, using a mishmash of improvised lighting, black curtains and a pretty manky old green screen. Nick added that in the course of this, he thinks they may have invented the wardrobe trolley-mounted followspot! In short, even though the rehearsal room was located inside Fox Studios, that’s where any resemblance to film studio conditions ended! Many weeks later, these pre-recorded sections then had to be mixed and matched together with the final theatre lighting which was not an easy process.
“The screens themselves present their own set of challenges, though not perhaps in the obvious way,” explained Nick. “We mostly use five LED screens, ranging in size from 5 x 3 metres down to 1.5 metres square, with a sixth, floor-based screen making a brief appearance in one scene. These five screens all fly and in addition, four of them also track across the stage. And lest you imagine that might mean the screens move only between scenes – think again. Some of the most thrilling and satisfying sections of the show are those where the screens are in constant movement, performing their own aerial ballets, often at quite low heights, so they cut across the front of the performer and then re-reveal her as they continue across stage. Given the inspired, but somewhat cobbled-together nature of the “automation” system, programming these sections was a feat in itself and took up a lot of time. So while I’m much happier working with and balancing against LED screens than dodging projection screens, it’s a very different kettle of fish when the damn things won’t hold still!”
The show is staged in a very open, unmasked theatre with an exposed rig and flown and trucked set-pieces are introduced throughout the evening. The trucked pieces were always regarded as fairly movable feasts, really only locking in their positions once the production was in the theatre. This factor, plus the ever-shifting screens made Nick opt for a lot more moving lights than he’d normally use in a play with Chameleon Touring Systems supplying the required amount. Even now, when the final set positions are a known quantity, there’s no way he could dodge the screens and cover the shifting elements with a static rig.
“I opted for Martin MAC Encore Cool units, despite the LED factor, ultimately because I was concerned about the potential noise problems caused by 34 moving discharge lamps in a big empty space,” said Nick. “These are predominantly overhead (23 units) with a further five per side on ladders, but still rigged fairly high to keep them out of the cameras’ view. In addition, there are three of my favourite old S.4 Revolutions as frontlights and 14 Martin Stage Cyclos to give the feeling of a big empty space, filled with diffuse light. The conventional rig numbers less than 200 – relatively small for this venue by my normal standards.”
Nick’s favourite moments of the show are those where he most effectively achieved the aim of simultaneity. “Those moments where the total view of live and screens coalesces into one great big, exciting thing consisting of many elements, perhaps typified at best by the final scene, which in this way reaches a great apotheosis.”
Nick comments that he has been incredibly lucky to have done two shows post-lockdown in 2020, something he’d regarded as unimaginable earlier in the year. During every stage of the first, Wonnangatta also for STC, he says he had to pinch himself to ensure that this was for real.
“Familiar rituals like the first read, focusing and plotting sessions all felt somehow “fake” at first, but it’s amazing how it all comes flooding back – and very quickly too!” he added. “Now, as life stutters back to some semblance of normality, I’m working on Maureen – The Harbinger of Death for the Sydney Festival and Playing Beatie Bow which will re-open STC’s Wharf Theatre after their long absence – and awaiting developments re the fate of my overseas work.”
ADAPTER / DIRECTOR: Kip Williams
DESIGNER: Marg Horwell
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Nick Schlieper
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER: Clemence Williams
VIDEO DESIGNER: David Bergman
Photos: Daniel Boud
