The bat-shaped canvas tent framing the stage seemed, like Stonehenge, to be aligned with the lunar cycle.
The theater itself is full of charming details, from the curved railing in front of the balcony to the green, red and yellow proscenium framing the stage.
Since the lyrics are helpfully projected in English on two screens framing the stage, the action can be related to the German description of trees and birds -- that is, arms spread out as boughs and wings.
The simple but elegant set designed by Josh Zangen does it, with four hanging, slatted panels evoking airy Pacific island architecture, and four rattan-like borders framing the stage, one behind the other.
But now I appreciate the club's static quality, which reveals my shifting facets just as effectively as the mirrors framing the stage do.
The scenic design by Anna Louizos is generally strong as well, with a striking forest creating the fairy tale mood and an arch of greenery framing the stage throughout as a gentle reminder this is a story.
He held that, in order to be relevant, the theatre must reject the picture-frame stage and the Italianate auditorium.
Even on a purely practical level, the revolving set forces the Young Vic to sacrifice its usual intimacy by adopting a straight-edged, picture-frame stage.
The then-current picture-frame stage called for passivity of response in audiences and their separation from the actors, lest the spell of illusion be broken.
But the fact that producers and directors are encouraging such experiments reflects a growing dissatisfaction among theatre-makers with the conventional arrangement of spectators sitting in tiered rows facing the picture-frame stage known as a proscenium arch.
