"Two hour play about scandal from before I was born with no intermission? Hmm... no thank you." I don't know what it is about shows I have not seen before, but I am always close minded about them. I guess that is just the pessimist in me. But at least this way I am very rarely disappointed, as I go into it expecting the worse. I must say, Frost/Nixon definitely surprised me and turned out to be a very enjoyable two hours.
I love the 70's. I always have. It seems very unfair to me that I missed the era of avocado green toilets and orange floors (I would assume my fixation on the era came from my bathroom growing up...). But the costumes and furniture used in this show were absolutely perfect for recreating a time and atmosphere! Striped pants, plaid shirts and silk vest were covering the cast. There was a great balance of looking different from the time we are in now and not overdoing it so much that it is just laughable and distracting. One thing I found (through close scrutiny) was that the actor playing President Nixon was wearing shoes with a heal to give more of the height that the late Nixon was so infamous of. It really helped the actor stand a head above the crowd and was a nice affect. The couches and chairs and telephones were all straight form the 70's as well. It was such a great set they created and added so much visually.
Being a professional theatre, Portland Center Stage has so many resources and financial ability to create a visually stimulating set. Throughout the entire show there were movable panels used to create rooms. This made it possible to go from a scene in a hotel room to an office or hospital with ease and not disrupt the narration going on by blacking out and having the set changers come out. One thing that I really appreciated was the actors did a large number of the set changes. I never am a fan of the lights going all out and being able to hear set changes going on. When they happen so smoothly while acting is still taking place it adds so much to the believability of a show.
The music and lighting in Frost/Nixon really dictated the mood of the scene. It often times changed so much and the lights and sound acted as little cue cards telling the audience how to feel. In just a split second the emotion could go from sad and forlorn, with slow music and dark lighting to an upbeat British talk show with phycadelic lights and funky music. With so much ebb and flow of the play, this really gave quite a bit of interest to the work.
Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised by Frost/Nixon. Nothing seemed out of place from the design elements and everything flowed together so well. This truly was a fantastic production!
Emily Adele
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5 comments:
You like the 70s? What? (Totally being sarcastic) :] I totally agree with ya about the movement of the lights inbetween lines and whatnot. It flowed great and it kept us wanting more of the interaction between the characters and what was coming up next.
I loved the costuming, also. I wasn't paying attention to the costumes much for most of the show, so that thing about Nixon's heels gave me an extra laugh. Also, I have noticed from past productions at PCS that they do have a tendency to have the actors move the sets around. The one I remember the most was Twelfth Night and the actors did most of the moving on there, also.
Yes it did very well portraying the 70's, with the clothes, furniture and even the telephone, it was well staged. Nancy
I totally agree, the scene changes were really smooth and it didnt take away from the play. i loved that!
I to enjoyed seeing the set changes. I found that I to was not disrupted by the way they changed sceens. It was almost as if we were watching a T.V. show at home and the show that we were watching changed from one point to another. I found myself trying to see flaws in the props to see if they were not going to use things from the 70's.
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