WhatsOnStage.com: The design for Saint George and the Dragon began as the show was being workshopped at the NT's New Work Department; it was there that I heard the story for the first time. As a new play forms, the design begins to realise itself, reacting to the imagination of the actors and the clues in the text. It's a very different process to designing a set text or a classic work.
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I love hearing the insight and design idea that scenic designers had while creating a show. Creating an environment that properly captures all of the storylines in the vision of the director for the production is super important, and from the her description, the photos here, and the videos on the Royal National Theatre website, Smith has done an excellent job doing just that. I think its cool that each time period's scenery is a representation of a popular expressive art form of the era (i.e. wood carving for medieval, lithographs for Victorian, and graphic novels for today). I also think the choice to make the buildings smaller than the actors was a good choice because, from what I understand in the show synopsis and the actor's review of the show, the show is focused on the people figuring out who they are as people, and "mak[ing] the characters bigger than they are" with these buildings does that. The focus is on the people rather than the set towering around. Then again, the giant sloping projection screen is the largest set piece and it does tower over the story. But that screen does show the audience a chance to see more of the world than just the story – "a social-anthropological viewpoint" – and brings the audience back to the reality of the story rather than just watching through the fairytale lens of the characters. The scenery and its meaning is very well thought out. I would totally take the opportunity to see this show is I had the chance, or if it is ever produced in America, because the technical aspects of the show seem phenomenal and I would love to see how Smith creates a real physical dragon on stage.
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