Rubber sets stage

Press, 15 August 1978, Page 20

Rubber sets stage

Set designs by Ken Adams at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, for Puccini’s opera, “La Fanciulla del West,” were his first in the theatre, though he is well known for his work in films and is an international award winner for his art direction in such films as Dr Strangelove,” “The Ipcress File,” and “Barry Lyndon.” The opera sets appeared to be constructed entirely of wood, in keeping with Californian Gold Rush versions of saloons, log cabins, and Californian forests (the opera is based on David Belasco’s, “May, The Girl of the Golden West,” first performed in 1910 in New York). But the authentic appearance was achieved by the use of polystyrene blocks “painted” with natural rubber latex to provide the desired wood-like texture.

The head of scenic studios at. Covent Garden, Peter Courtier, had been experimenting with natural rubber latex for some time before the “La Fanciulla” production.

Set materials used in London theatres have to pass very stringent fire tests imposed by the Greater London Council. The Malaysian Rubber Producers’ Research Association provided the scenic studios with a natural rubber latex which fulfilled all the reauirements. It was light, flexible, flame-proof, and capable of being painted — and it i passed all the tests.

Experiments at the Covent Garden studios have shown the great potential of this type of latex for stage sets. As in “La Fanciulla,” it can be used to produce realistic testures, It can also be painted on hanging gauzes to produce a variety of effects, either by itself or as an adhesive to stick objects to the gauze.

The use of gauzes is a I welll-known technique in set building. Under stage ; lighting the net “dis- ; appears,” leaving appar- ; ently “floating” objects. The flexibility of natural latex allows rolling and storage . of the gauzes without cracking of the dried latex. The use of latex to pro-

duce textured finishes means that modern, light materials such as polystyrene can provide the form for the basic structure. In the traditional

theatres scene changes are done manually and at frequent intervals. The lighter the set, the more easy are assembly, disassembly, and alteration.