The Crucible

Writer: Arthur Miller,
Director: Conall Morrison,
Belfast.
Set Design: Sabine Dargent;
Lighting Designer: Ben Ormerod;
Costume Design: Joan O’Clery;
Composer: Conor Linehan;
Photos: Steffan Hill.

The set revealed the show but also the space, as this was the first show in the new Lyric Theatre of Belfast. Therefore, I decided to bring the spectators’ space into the stage, using the same mahogany woods throughout, and building a multiplicity of secret doors which revealed the backstage, the hidden parts of the theatre to the citizens.

«The very spareness of Sabine Dargent’s set for *The Crucible* strikes the eye with the force of a Rembrandt painting. Dark wood-panelled walls enclose on three sides a simple bed stage left and a chair and table stage right, set on a floor of stained boards. Overhead hangs a truss of heavy wooden beams in the same ruddy hue. This strong visual impact resonates throughout the production in the adroit use of chiaroscuro in Ben Ormerod’s lighting: in moments where action is frozen momentarily as a form of gestus; and in the beautiful transitions within the mise-en-scène. Panels open to reveal doors and windows and swivel as actors in character shift the set from one scene to another. The scenography becomes the action in every sense.»
— Extract of Tom Maguire’s review for Irish Theatre Magazine.