Janet
Tulloch
and Tanit Mendes: "Set
Design as Cosmic Metaphor:
Drawing the line between Drama and
Religious Spectacle."
In Scenographic
Imagination (1993), Darwin Reid Payne suggests that
for Shakespearean productions on the
Elizabethan stage "space is cosmic and human: 'where we are' is
determined
by theological architecture and portable accessories" (p. 240). The
stage
becomes a place of cosmic metaphor signifying location through visual
means. Working with Payne's ideas, this
presentation will examine the use of
theological architecture to define the physical space of gods
and humans
in Michael Levine's set designs for the Canadian Opera
Company's Die Walkürie and Siegfried
on Toronto's
Hummingbird stage. In particular the presentation discusses how the set
theatrically positions characters and spectators to
perceive the alternating image of human or
divine space through the judicious use of light. This feat is
especially
striking in a proscenium style theatre with a large
auditorium, often referred to as a
"barn", seating over 3000 patrons.