The traditional idea of theatre sets is towering flats creating a box set. However, many smaller theatre spaces, particularly those on the London fringe, do not have the facilities for this and, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.
The Finborough Theatre near Earls Court is one of the top fringe venues. It is essentially a room above a pub. Some shows have attempted an end-on setting with a raked bank of seats but these do not seem to add anything to the show. Instead they emphasise the smallness of the venue without actually using the intimacy which this can create to their advantage.
A production that did cleverly use the space was Phil Willmott’s production of ‘Loyalties’. The play is about a possible criminal court case and the audience were seated either side of the playing area. The sides of the space had a suggestion of the type of barriers you would see in front of a witness box in a court of law and made the audience feel as if they were sitting in judgement on the characters involved.
Another impressive setting was that for Christopher Roll’s production of ‘The Beaver Coat’ where the audience sat in the round and the props extended to the walls of the auditorium. The audience felt they were actually in the action.
At Keeley Hire, we are proud of our reputation and the incredible stock of stage and movie props we have. We can also arrange delivery of theatre sets if you require it.
