Through a Glass Darkly - Almeida Theatre

DesignClockwise from top left: Model Box, open stage; Model Box with revolve feature; photograph of actualset in Almeida Theatre. Design by Tom Scutt.Photos: Stage Management and Simon AnnandThe designer for Through a Glass Darkly is Tom Scutt.Tom worked closely with director Michael Attenborough to create the visual aesthetic for thisproduction. A large part of the function of the design was to encase the drama in an appropriateatmosphere. Bergman’s films make intricate use of visual imagery to convey mood; theatre is unableto do this in the same way. As Through a Glass Darkly is a chamber piece, set over 24 hours and inone location on the island of Fårö, the set can be fairly simple, but also needs to be fluid and flexibleenough to show a variety of spaces within its location, such as the beach, house interior, bedroomand Karin’s derelict room where she succumbs to her hallucinations.Tom and Michael decided that the desolate, remote location was best conveyed minimally, and moresymbolically, rather than drawing on naturalism in the design. Large walls of dappled grey give asense of open space, a clouded sky, and can be at once claustrophobic and expansive, depending onthe lighting states. Shards of light pour in from outside, giving a sense of enclosure and a worldbeyond the microcosm that is the family’s holiday home. The back wall can come forward todelineate a smaller, more intimate space, such as the bedrooms. The back wall also revolves 180degrees and its reverse shows the cracked wall of the derelict room where Karin hears voices. Thisgives a sense of its symbolic and physical separation from the rest of the house. A trap in the floorgives added flexibility and is used to bring in the table, which doubles as a bed, and the boat, fromScene Eleven.Resource Pack: Through A Glass Darkly by Ingmar Bergman 16