An Exploration of Aesthetic Legacy
Based on the Shakespeare reference in the title, it seems obvious that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead will be a self-reflexive piece of theatre. To that, we say: sort of. While it’s true that it’s written as the “offstage story” of Hamlet, much of the play concerns itself with the nature of performance more generally, simultaneously honoring and disrupting conventions of the form.
In our nearly seventy-year history, we have staged many plays and welcomed countless audience members. With every production, we create something ephemeral and leave something ineffable behind; these stories persist in our hearts and become part of our collective narrative. That’s the magic of theatre.
“I feel I am in a spiritual place when I walk into an empty theatre,” shares Scenic Designer John Culbert. “Our approach to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern evokes ‘the spirit of the theatre’ as a guide to exploring identity. What is Court’s identity, and how does theatrical storytelling shape and reflect that identity?”
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern celebrates Court’s aesthetic identity through its scenic design and staging. By incorporating subtle nods to our past artistic hallmarks, Culbert and Director Charles Newell pay homage to this place and this art form that have given so much to so many.
Here, Culbert reflects on some of Court’s aesthetic signatures that live on in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Something that I think Court does extremely well, as an institution, is create a sense of connection with an audience. Court productions typically build an intensity of experience that then reaches a climax; as we see in these sample images, that effect is often aided by footlights and a breaking of the fourth wall. The impact, for the audience, is the realization that we’re in a shared space with the characters in the play, and the actors on stage. It creates multiple layers of connection between the audience, the actors themselves, and the characters, so the human connections are more real and hit closer to home.
Lighting is one of the most powerful tools in theatre; it can immediately set a mood. In my experience, Court productions typically use lighting to enhance the emotional storytelling to great effect, which is a credit to all the talented Lighting Designers who have worked here.
As I’m sure you can tell, Court Theatre has an intimate house with a relatively large stage, so we have the opportunity to be creative with space. Court often uses vertical and overhead scenic elements to define a volume of space within the larger theatre, which creates a sense of scale, makes the space feel more expansive than it actually is, and also establishes the ‘sky’, or ‘the heavens.’ Thinking about the theatre as a spiritual place, the concept of ‘the heavens’ is crucial, so that verticality – the sense of something higher, or bigger, than ourselves – can be really moving and effective.
Another one of Court’s aesthetic hallmarks that will be echoed in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is an open, large-scale, abstract world that highlights the people in the space. The arrangement of bodies is used to create and define the world in individual moments, and it also allows for a very changeable environment to best support the emotion of a piece.
Similar to the creation of an abstract world, many Court productions orchestrate scale – a virtually empty stage, strong lighting gestures, and obstacles (such as walking on chairs, as you see in this image) – to empower the physicality of the actors. This allows them to build and express an emotional moment with authenticity.
A final Court signature is the use of abstracted architecture that allows us to capture the essence of a gesture. By removing a production from any literal structure or place, we enable the audience to bring their own experiences into play; they are empowered to determine what this world means to them in relation to the story being told.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead runs from March 29 – April 21, 2024. Tickets are available online or by calling the Box Office at (773) 753-4472.