Arden of Faversham. That is all. Seeing this play performed at Swan Theatre (TWICE) by the Royal Shakespeare Company created a new lens through which I hope to approach the rest of the plays we see in London. Before we saw this performance of Arden, I did not really know what to expect because the play is not done as often as the Shakespeare plays we saw in Stratford. We talked a lot about the possibilities for the production before the play, especially the question of how the production would deal with the issue of multiple settings. I was really hoping for something exciting, but I was also worried that the production would lose the core of the story in an overwhelming, flashy, show. Holly Findlay, the director, knocked this one out of the park with a perfect (in my opinion) combination of a relatively simple set revealing complex ideas. I found the set wonderfully simple (especially the use of blinds—a household decoration—to change the set), but incredibly interesting from the moment we entered the Swan Theatre until the final bow. Findlay used a combination of small props and a simple backdrop to create a setting that did not distract from the story, yet created a contemplative atmosphere.
The factory setting that occurred as we walked into the Swan immediately revealed important themes to the audience. It set in place the idea of commodification and commercialization of goods and people, by using Alice’s face on the factory boxes and portraying the factory workers as robotic. Before the play even begins, Findlay entices the audience to see the themes that are important to the story and this particular production of Arden of Faversham. Findlay did an amazing job creating a cohesive, consistent show, with specific themes and ideas but with endless possibilities for interpretation. I hope to see more of this while we are in London and I am especially interested in the use of set to portray themes after seeing Findlay’s Arden of Faversham. I loved this play and I really enjoyed seeing it twice, meeting most of the cast after the second show at the Dirty Duck, and getting many autographs (even though we failed at stalking the cast at the back door of the RSC).
