The Play Produced

THE PORTRAIT OFAUU'Y By Henry James

GETTING STARTED For many years I had been

fascinated by the dramatic potential of Henry James' early novel The Portrait of a Lady. This relates the story of Isabel Archer, an attractive but headstrong girl, who is brought by her aunt from New York State to Europe in the 1870's, turns down the proposals of

two eligible men, inherits a fortune and then falls victim to an odious fortune hunter and his ex-mistress.

Charged with directing our April 2003 production at Bromley Little Theatre, I took my courage and laptop in both hands and set about condensing the SOO-page book for an ensemble of eight actors to perform in about ninety

minutes playing time. The company, with the exception of the 'lady' herself, would be a group of storytellers who would segue into the various characters as required . There would be little scenery, only a fluid space with the minimum of furniture, good lighting, an atmospheric sound design and some elegant costumes, simple, but very stylish.

It took several weeks pencil in hand on trains to work, sneaking time during lunch hours and at home in the evenings to select, prune and re-work James' ornate prose and brilliant dialogue, whilst retaining the irony and tone of the original. Brilliant it might be, but not 'ready made' for the theatre; it was also necessary to telescope events so as to move as quickly as possible to the point where the real drama begins. For example, two 'proposal' scenes were dovetailed and presented as if they were going on

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retrospectively in Isabel's head, the characters isolated with the help of a heightened sound effect.

I dispensed with characters that did not help move the action along, but added a wedding scene to conclude the first act, ar)d a short prologue to Act II to cover a passage of time and incidents only briefly referred to in the novel. I also retained the ambiguous 'dying fall' ending - a decision that was to lead to lively discussion in the bar after each performance!

By July a first draft was ready, comprising thirty short, ir)terwoven scenes, By August the play was ready for circulation to members of the club, It was cast in October, a technical team was recruited and a first reading was held early in December, Rehearsals began in mid-February,

FROM PAGE TO STAGE

Wardrobe designed a simple uniform costume for each of the women, comprising a skirt

with the 1870's apron-and­bustle profile and period blouses, Isabel', as tre character around whom everything revolves, stood alone, dressed in blue, whilst the others wore shades of brown, tan and cream, Character transitions were denoted by means of a change of hat, drape, cape, shawl and parasol - sometimes in the presence of the audience, The introduction of fans and stoles were used to indicate eveningwear. As a big favour, a professional milliner created hats that defined the different female characters and became a feature of the production.

The men wore late 19th century black frockcoats, again with the addition of different hats, cravats, neckties, boutonnieres, scarves, canes, etc. for each character, These costumes were mainly hired, and turned out to be the only really expensive item on the bill.

An all-purpose set was constructed, consisting of an acting area on two levels backed by colonnades behind

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which were painted maps of Italy, Great Britain and North America, the countries in which different phases of the story are set, to be illuminated in turn. Three gilt-painted period chairs and a small round table were arranged and re-arranged by the narrators to suggest various rooms and such items of furniture as a bed, a sofa, a banquette, even the gates of a convent and the pillars of St Peter's in Rome. A sound score was compiled using a mixture of 19th century music and various effects including the ticking of a sinister clock to indicate the passage of time,

Our lighting deSigner provided a complex but atmospheric lighting plot which incorporated the projection of sunshine though foliage for the outdoor scenes, a stained glass window for the basilica, a large white cross for the wedding and convent sequences and a lot of individual spots, All of this required the actors to know exactly where to position themselves to find the light for each scene,

It was agreed with the actors that they would adopt standard English pronunCiation for the narration and North East coast American accents for the American-born characters. They were all team players and rose magnificently to the challenge of the project, not only doubling up as characters and providing a 'chorus' of guests at the various balls and receptions, but waltzing to Prokofiev in a fantasy sequence and becoming shadowy, menacing trees in a garden toward the end of the play,

ANOTHER OPENING ... Each member of the cast

agreed that they found it a rewarding but demanding piece

to work on, especially having to develop the skills required to change character, speak, move chairs and occasionally a table, sometimes all at the same time. They also enjoyed contributing to the improvisational elements,

We were rewarded with large and appreciative audiences over the nine performances of the run, The majority of the people who saw the production fed back to us that it was exciting to see something new and 'a bit different', which had also made demands on them; that they found the narrative clear and absorbing and reported that the show looked stunning, A number said they were inspired to go home and read the novel itself - perhaps the greatest compliment of all!

Any company that is interested in reading the adaptation of The Portrait of a Lady discussed above, with a view to possible production, should write to Raymond Langford Hughes for a copy at: Huntersmoon, 16 Nash Green, Bromley, Kent BR1 4ED, or contact him at Raymond_Langfordjones@hot mail. com.

All scripts. scores and llibretti I featured in 'The Play Produced'

and 'The Musical Produced' can be obtained from

SE R, V ING AMAHUR THEAl'IH SI NC E 1899

Music and scripts available for all. Discounts for members

Tel' 0870 770 2480 Fax' 0870 770 2490

email: everyone@noda,org,uk website: www.noda org,uk

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