Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 1983 - 14

boards with a mild rake. All galleries,
bridges, and lighting instruments were
completely exposed. "We needed a
stage that looked like a space where a
performance can take place. Like the
deck of an aircraft carrier." Suspended
above the stage was a very large, dull
colored canvas sack that soon served a
startling purpose:
I wanted to concentrate on one spectacular theatrical device, which was
very adaptable, very nexible, and
could be used all through the play ...
the [sack J could suddenly open up
over the stage, a beautiful, heraldic,
glorious roof over the heads of the
actors ... it looked baroque, and yet it
also looked Asiatic ... it was organic
also, to the whole play: [it 1could descend for the war scenes, and become
. . . a muddy field in France.·

In short, the reverse side of the canvas sacking had richly blazoned motifs
and emblems appliqued to it, while the
muddy hued basic canvas became the
ground for the battle scenes. One other
effect heightened the dramatic impact of
the battle scenes-the rear part of the
floor was laterally hinged and thus could
lift up to form a steep, dangerous surface to be scaled as part of the attack.
Farrah has relied on this sudden transformation of floor to wall or the reverse
more than once. In Richard I! (RSC
1980), the opening scene took place on
the forestage backed by an elaborately
carved wall of warriors and heraldic
signs, but for all subsequent scenes,
starting with the tournament, the wall
leaned back to form a moderately steep
rake which was complemented by a
wooden ceiling that slanted up to create
an impression of jaws at the rear of the
stage.
Even more striking use of the same
technique occurred in As You Like It
(RSC 1980), in which the opening scene
displayed a forestage floor and wall covered with what looked like a shaggy
white fur carpet. The transformation
preceding the subsequent forest scenes
involved the wall being lowered backward to form the rear part of the stage
floor, but the carpeting motif was retained in the form of furrows or strips
that suggested the passage 0 f seasons as
more white or green was evident. A
gracefully expressive added element
were the trunks of trees that curved up
from the floor to a vertical position, almost like stylized waves or, as Farrah
12

Farrah's Henry Y, showing fhe raised rear secfion of floor for fhe assautf sequence. PholO Burian .

Farrah's rendering for Henry Y, /975: fhe suspended sack opened fO creme a spangled heavell, and lafer
lowered fO reveal ifS reverse, muddy surface. PholO Burian.

uggested, the shape of an African musical string instrument. The total effect
was warmer, softer, somewhat more
humane than many of Farrah's sets that
convey a general hardness or aggressive
boldness of effect; it was the appeal of
benevolent nature rather than the glitter
and threat of heraldry and armor.
More explicitly theatrical scenography was evident in Genet's The Balcony
(RSC 1971), for which Farrah constructed a complex series of kinetic panels and boxe , all of which were mirrored, to create the various chambers of
i\ladame Irma's house of illusions. Similarly, masks have long held fascination
for Farrah. The walls of his London
apartment are covered with them from
all over the world, and he still possesses

Theatre Design & Technology/USITT IFall 1983

the set of male and female masks of different ages designed by Saint Denis for
actor training. Farrah's scenographic
u e of masks has been limited, but examples occurred in the 1963 RSC Tempesl (half-masks of the conspirators'
own features) and in the 1968 RSC Doclor Fauslus (the Seven Deadly Sins). On
other occasions, such as Richard II!
(RSC 1970), Farrah elaborated the helmets of warriors into monstrous emblematic bust-like mask of heraldic
beasts to signify special allegiances to
the conflicting armies.
Farrah's underlying esthetic partakes
slightly of the mystical, and is neatly
summed up in his own words regarding
the essence of theatre design: "It's the
old story of Thomas Aquinas: imitate

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