Peer Gynt
Set design, is commanded first, by the controversial main character, and, second, by the character called the Boyg, who has no physical form. In trying to escape the troll kingdom, Peer Gynt proclaims the words which became iconic:
Backwards and forward is equally long;
Out and in is equally narrow!
There he is! And there! And in circles I go!
Just when I get out, I am inside the ring.
Tell me your name! Let me look at you! What are you?
The white area of the stage is the main character’s space, as a manifested metaphor for a blank sheet of paper. It is simultaneously calm and dangerous, empty and full, it is filled with fantasies, dreams and fears. All of this, based on the director’s wishes, can be achieved with video projections: the walls would slide apart and uncover a different world full of color…
Set design includes three white walls connected together as sides of an incomplete rectangle, which form an illusory stage box divided horizontally along its perimeter. Both parts are mobile. The top part can be lifted to different heights. The bottom part, equipped with lifting-lowering mechanism, either lifts or is plunged into the lower stage hold. The parting walls define spaces of various heights, which is limited by a rear screen with either changing colors, or, if the director prefers, video projections. There are also two stage tablets. The first—the main one—is fixed on the ramp level, and is white like the walls, and can lift and lower, just like the walls. The second one is black, and is hidden in the hold, 6 meters below. In the second act, when the action moves to the troll kingdom, the black tablet replaces the ascending white tablet with the help of plungers.
Complete artistic development of this concept is possible upon an in-person meeting with the director.
