AMERICAN THEATRE: Edward Gorey—whose pen-and-ink drawings regularly mixed the macabre with the ridiculous—was the rare visual artist who forayed into theatre design, winning a Tony Award for his work on the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula, for which he designed the costumes and 30-foot-high set. Being Gorey fans themselves, the creative team at the Alley Theatre decided to resurrect his designs for their version of Dracula.
6 comments:
OH MY GOD. THIS IS EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER WANTED.
Dracula is such a campy concept. Vampires are overdone in the extreme in every possible genre, so they are no longer possible to take seriously. This is the best way I have ever seen to utilize that camp instead of minimize it. Trying to cover up the inherent cheesy would only make it more evident. This is brilliant because by playing up the charming melodrama of Edward Gorey, the cheesiness is cheekily acknowledged. The best part is that Gorey's drawings are like the admission ticket to his whole world, in all of it's gloomy dreary glory. I'm reminded a little of black and white film, with the exaggerated facial expressions and dramatic sighs. This style is almost like having an inside joke with the audience. It's a wink when the camp becomes unbearable, as if to say "Isn't think silly? We think so too. Isn't the world full of ridiculous things?"
This set is incredible! I absolutely love it! The idea of making a set look as if it was drawn in an old fashioned book is so simple yet it is so interesting. In the Museum of Sex in Manhattan has sculptures made in a similar sense. They are all so striking, not only because of the content, but because of how they look as if they are three dimensional drawings. The fact that this was mostly Photoshopped from original Gorey’s book is super cool. The design has such fluidity between the book and modernized ideas. Abstract scenic designs are my favorite as they give the audience a chance to interpret the scenic elements in their own way and they can compare their ideas with each other. There is also the fact that each interpretation gives each audience member a different idea of the background. Some people would find this set beautiful while others could find it creepy.
This set is so absolutely beautiful! I love all the cross hatching that you can see when you get close- especially on the tomb. It gives it such a perfectly Gothic look. The fact that it is all black and white makes it look so dour which is perfect for this play. I also loved the detail that Gorey put in with all the “hidden” bats it definitely adds to the mood and immediately makes you think of Dracula with them being the classic representation of the vampire.
The fact that they used the original set design and even kept all the two dimensional pieces even though the scenic coordinator liked things in 3D, is just perfect and it keeps the set looking playful and cheesy, just like how the book was written. I feel like people tend to forget how cheesy and overly dramatic the original story was. All it was was a slow, slow, s l o w buildup of the characters trying to find Dracula, but because they don’t know anything all they miss every allusion to what a vampire is and just flail around until they get lucky. It’s great.
This is such a cool set. Edward Gorey is one of my favorite illustrators, so it's really exciting to me to see how to creative team channeled Gorey into their production design. His work translates really well to the design of this set, and it looks like the actors are preforming on the pages of one of his books without being too campy. His aesthetic is definitely very well suited for this type of thing, and I think it would be really cool if there he actually illustrated a version of the book (alas, there is not, but he did illustrate War of the Worlds). The reproduction of his art on the set is incredible, although I was a little bit disappointed to find out that it was photoshopped. It would have been so much cooler if it had been hand painted, although the paint charge would probably be super pissed throughout the process. I really hope that there are multiple cats somewhere in this set. In order to capture the true essence of Gorey there must be a cat.
I love the scenic design for this. Even before the article revealed that it was all elements of Dracula, I loved the crosshatching/etching effect that it gives the scene. It looks like an etching or illustration found in an old book, rich with detail even though it is all conveyed through millions of tiny lines. This set gives the play the effect of being inside a book, as though the characters come straight out of the text and live in the illustrations. I think in contrast to the set walls, the photos of the bed and coffin appear less detailed and more cartoonish, which adds to the slightly ridiculous way the story is told. I absolutely love the way that the characters seem drained of color, which I think fits very well with the production and the concept of “vampire”. I am so impressed with the amount of detail that was put into this, and I will definitely be looking for more photos of the design! Absolutely beautiful.
Wow, these images are absolutely stunning. Though I have never really been all too interested in vampires, I have been very interested in the vampire aesthetic. The images included in this article show a beautiful set, one that is ornate, elegant, stoney, somewhat dungeony, and very bleak, everything that the perfect vampire is. The thing I appreciate most, however, is the color scheme. The clothes, the makeup, the lighting, the set, and the scenic painting all contribute to a beautifully stark, old, black and white movie vibe, pulling the audience into the illusion that everything going on on stage is a part of a black and white movie. I hope that the script and the acting is as beautiful as the scenery, because, at least from these images, this show is completely gorgeous and I’d hate for a subpar performance or script to taint it.
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