Prologue
set design, pen drawing preceding
final coloured brush drawing
Act II, winter scene, vison
set design, preliminary sketch
Prologue
set design, final drawing
Carabosse centre stage
Prologue, Stage model, scale 1:25
Carabosse, centre stage
Gouache, watercolour & appliqué
Materials: card, card board, paper, tissue paper, paper doilies, metallic foil, leaf gold, balsa wood, wire, gauze, plastic drinking straws
Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek
Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
The image of the model is derived from a casually taken, poor-quality 35mm studio or working shot and therefore neither mirrors the true colours precisely, nor allows for enlarged viewing. The general colour scheme of the architectural structures, embellished with metal foil and beatgold, and of the floor, laid out with marbled paper, consists of buff, pale grey and antique pink. All stucco features are made of appliquéd paper doilies, the candles of the chandeliers of plastic drinking straws. It is the gold leaf covering of the backdrop and suspended wings that confers a golden shimmer to the entire set. Their life-size analogues, encompassing almost 300m², were also clad in 14-carat leaf gilding.
Colourized technical drawing of the stage floor plan and layout of architectural structures
P & PO = Prompt & Opposite Prompt P – Prompt Side: The left-hand side of the stage when facing the audience.
Traditionally the side of the stage on which the prompt corner is situated.
OP – Opposite Prompt Side: The right-hand side of the stage when facing the audience.
Moscow Metro Komsomolskaya station, Zamoskvoretskaya line
Not only, according to Barry Kay, did the architecture of Russian basilicas and palaces stand godfather to his setting of The Sleeping Beauty, but also that of the lavishly and sumptuously designed Moscow metro stations and their profuse adornments of marble, mosaics, sculptures and chandeliers. Often referred to as people’s palaces, the architecture of these stations has its roots in that of the very Tsarist palaces.