The Theatre Times: The two plays are very different. Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance, directed by Stephen Daldry on Broadway, is a seven-hour, two-part, densely talkative epic about generational continuity and indebtedness among gay American men. Sing Street is a 2 ½-hour musical directed by Rebecca Taichman at New York Theatre Workshop, about a high school band in recession-strapped 1980s Ireland. It’s adapted from a 2016 film and has a book by Enda Walsh and music and lyrics by Gary Clark and John Carney.
4 comments:
The concept of a house or home is always a difficult one to breach in theatre. Everyone has their own ideas of what those terms mean, the emotional weight they carry, and the thoughts and memories we associate with them.
The fact that the same designer made this similar choice for two shows in the same season kind of immediately screams gimmick to me. Having seen the Sing Street movie, I do not remember the image of a house or home as being crucial to the story or imagery. I also wonder how these miniatures will play to those in seats that are further back in the house. Looking at The Inheritance, the model home seems to be at the back/center of the stage, and opening up sounds like it would be a weighted moment, but what if you can’t see what’s inside it? It may be a good idea, but if it can’t play to the balcony of the house, is it worth it?
I would be so interested to see one of these model houses in action. It is such a unique idea to come up with- to choose to not make something on stage that is larger than life, but smaller. I wonder what the designer got inspired by in order to make this idea a reality. In the article, they mention that the figures are animated. Do they move? I am so intrigued!! Also, how can the audience see all the tiny details from so far away. Does this mean that they did all the detail for nothing? Who knows. This designer took a risk, and made a creative choice, instead of making the unit set that is expected of the plays, and I admire that. I think the choice in the end looked stunning and it would be a pleasure to see it in person. In the photo, the house is hanging above the actors. I wonder if that is to represent they are in that space or not.
This is such and innovative idea I’ve never really seen before on stage. Often times, broadway shows tend to lean farther to the elaborate and extravagant, rather than the minimal, but I believe there is so much power and symbolism in the minimal, while meaning can be lost in an overly extravagant set. I have heard about both of these shows, but I know very little about them. I would love to see these small homes in action, because without actually seeing the shows I have no idea if they actually accomplish what they are attempting to. But the idea itself is very innovative, and I love hearing about new ideas being attempted on Broadway, because too often we see the same designs over and over again, that rely on bells and whistles rather than actual substance that adds to the story being told onstage. It's also fun to see these scenic designers putting their model box skills to work.
I don’t know much about the play dollhouse but I think the idea to have an empty stage with a small literal dollhouse is interesting. It’s taking the title and literally showing it but I wonder what the direction of the production was with this kind of set. There's not much room for movement or much furniture to play with, so it’s up to the actors to create the small in which they are in for the play. I wonder how important the actual dollhouse is and how the actors interact with it on stage. The dollhouse was done in various different productions and served a different purpose in each one. I think its funny that this is a serious play and it has a dollhouse as its set and I wonder how that works with the story. The model dollhouse is presently very intricate and detailed on the inside and is revealed later in the show when the open the house itself.
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