set & costume design - Electric Juju
set & costume design - Electric Juju |
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The heart had to be hollow. This would allow for a number of theatrical visual tricks to take place, one of which was that the heart should swallow the actor at the end of the play. It also had to be light in order to be worn for part of the performance. It had to be strong enough to hold the actor’s weight should he need to climb on top of it, as well as durable enough for touring purposes. It also had to function as a miniature landscape / world.
Construction began by using an old steel table as the solid core onto which was attached a framework of cane. Around and onto this framework we glued and sculpted cheap mattress foam and covered this with batting and rubber latex. Colour was applied in layers using different shades of woodstain. “The giant prop that Van Vuuren employs, the heart of the giant, is one of the most mystical and affecting inanimate things I have ever seen on stage….whatever burden it is that is keeping you occupied in the real world, it is a liberating experience to see that, on any day, it would pale in comparison to that massive giant’s heart on the back of that hunched old man.” Peter Tromp, Cape Times, August 16, 2006. Visit the Fresco Theatre website |
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