Staging the Henrician Court : The set for 'The Play of the Weather'
This page last changed on Dec 07, 2009 by Eleanor Rycroft.
The set for 'The Play of the Weather' consisted of what was explicitly called for in the text, a throne and a withdrawing space for Jupiter. On the basis of accounts of Tudor entertainments, images of regal traverses, and descriptions and depictions of the tents used in the Field of the Cloth of Gold, we interpreted the set to be a traverse and throne which we erected at the screen's end of the Great Hall.
However, we did modify an original set design - which would have enabled a more theatrical reveal of Jupiter's decent to earth from heaven - involving the construction of a false screen which mimicked the existing screen of the Great Hall and behind which Jupiter would have hidden whilst the audience took to their seats. The aim was to reproduce the magical appearances and vanishings of performers found in accounts of early Tudor entertainments but unfortunately cost was prohibitive in this instance.
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