Production
10 September 2007

Present: 
Nikolai Foster (Director)
Colin (Designer)
Mark Feakins (STT Executive Producer)
Creative Development Programme
Marketing, Production
Box Office
Sheffield Theatres’ staff.

Location:       
Crucible Auditorium

Time:
1400 – 1500

The Introduction

The first production meeting for Amadeus was notable by the amount of staff that had bustled into the auditorium to hear the director give us the first glimpse into his vision of the play.  As we all eagerly sat down, Mark Feakins (Sheffield Theatre’s Executive Producer) took the stage to introduce the first play of our 2007/8 season, Amadeus by Sir Peter Shaffer.

Mark Feakins made it clear that the play chosen to launch our 36th year was to be a celebratory: a piece that celebrated ‘the life and uniqueness of the space’; that launched us into our re-development period with an explosive bang and of the many ideas that were discussed in making this choice, Amadeus stood out.  Amadeus is an ‘extra-grand play full of big ideas’ that united with the Director of such notable past productions as Chorus Line and Assassins, with Peter Shaffer’s stunning play was the perfect way to end this stage of the Crucible’s creative cycle and enter the Next Stage.

The Director and The Design

The director, Nikolai Foster then took the stage: ‘I am filled with excitement’, he declared, ‘for the strength and passion’ of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus.  Foster told us that the genius of Shaffer’s writing was an early source of attraction to him and led him to theatre in his college years. 

Foster began to paint the picture of his Amadeus… a play that one could fear would be eclipsed by Mozart’s sublime music, but was saved by the brilliancy of Shaffer’s theatrical, epic world in which the stories of the characters emerge.  Foster described a play that was so well structured by Shaffer that it was a gift to a director. 

Foster then spoke of the staging and design of the piece, solidifying Feakin’s earlier comments about the piece being chosen as a means of celebrating the Crucible and the potential of that space, with his own comments.  Feakins also spoke of how he and the designer, Colin Richmond, had initially visualised the stage as a blank canvas, but that they felt after consideration that this might be short changing the production and the audiences expectations of the period’s representation. 

The Amadeus box set from 10 September 07 Production meeting

Foster described to the auditorium, how he and Richmond had decided that the design was to keep the space uncluttered; creating a transient space that could move between time, location and period.  Lighting would be used to create the transient, filmic effect.  From the ceiling a thousand wax candles would flicker through out the production, thus creating a religious undertone, with the chains that they were suspended from giving a hint of hanging carcases is butcher shops.  The space was to be dark, with a lacquered effect on the walls and on the parquet floor reflecting the opulence of Venetian society in the 18th century and infusing the set with ‘va va voom’. 

The costumes were to be very much based on the fashions of the 18th century Venice that Mozart and Salieri inhabited, but with modern twists that create a sexy, contemporary feel.  Richmond had brought an extensive portfolio of intricate and beautiful costume designs, here are but a selection of the plethora of designs we were shown at the Production meeting.

Salieri - Costume Design by Colin Richmond

Mozart - Costume Design by Colin Richmond

Katerina - Costume Design by Colin Richmond

Venticelli - Costume Design by Colin Richmond

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The Music

Foster explained that the production would not be involving real musicians, but the use of recorded music instead.  Foster pointed out that this was not perhaps an initially obvious choice, when you are putting on a production about Mozart, and he had initially conceived the music to be live.  However after consultation with the Musical Advisor, he had come to realise that the sound of real musicians, though undoubtedly beautiful, could not be manipulated and modulated as recorded sound could, and therefore when using live sound, i.e. real musicians in the auditorium, the potential for using the sound as a dramatic device was limited. 

However with the use of modern technology: the placing of speakers and the playing of sound, the music could really begin to represent the characters psychological states.  Foster used the example of when Salieri experiences the intensity of Mozart’s genius through music, the music appears to consume him.  The director described how with the placing of microphones and the use of recorded sound, the music could intensely vibrate through out the auditorium, allowing the audience to experience the music as Salieri does, creating a much more profound and theatrical effect.

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