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She Loves Me is a win for production design
A poster of "She Loves Me." Photo/Yenze Theatre Conservatoire.
What you need to know:
- What made the Ugandan show standout from anything that has been at the National Theatre was the grand set.
Production design is rarely one aspect people put a lot of emphasis on in theatre. Not that it is useless, most people think about their cast and all the many things that could go right or wrong but somehow forget the production design.
In fact, over the years, we have seen local theatre productions doing the bare minimum during shows; some simply have a backdrop with an illustration of a landscape or an interior.
For instance, with Phantom of the Opera, it was a glossy canvas print of a theatre interior, an office, and other places that were locations.
Of course, it was challenging since the story takes place in many locations and landscapes. Some of the scenes that took place over the bridge were almost invisible to people who sat in the gallery.
But then came Joe Masteroff’s musical, She Loves Me, which was staged at the National Theatre last week.
The play, an adaptation of Perfumarie, a 1937 Hungarian play that follows co-workers who hate each other at the workplace but correspond anonymously through letters. But that’s just a nutshell of it; the story is much deeper than the co-workers; it captures jealousy, intrigue, and esteem.
What made the Ugandan show standout from anything that has been at the National Theatre was the grand set.
Theatre is supposed to be majestic, a spectacle and this show reinforced that notion with both costumes and the set design.
The set, designed by Kenneth Kanaabi, was a true imaginative work of art, with the details of a 1930s shop, the signage, but above all, the ability to put so much on a small National Theatre stage.
His stage design got the audience teleported to the time he wanted them in, and, good for him, the team that designed the costumes and props, Bakeine Martin and Atukunda Maria Sheba, respectively, did not disappoint.
Of course, set design without matching lighting and sound is almost incomplete, Mugabi Joshua Stephen, the lighting designer, and Isma Ssemujju, the sound designer, created the mood that helped both the audience and the cast understand which season a particular scene was taking place in. From improvised spring leaves falling from the gallery to snow showing up briefly in one of the scenes, they ensured the audience was right in the moment with the cast.
She Loves Me is a comedy as well as a love story where colour and lighting play a big role. For instance, for many shows like this, the lighting is rarely harsh, and in many cases, both the light and music try to keep things very lighthearted for the audience.
All in all, the crew at Yenze Theatre Conservatoire outdid themselves with their production team. They aimed for the stars while thinking about all the details of their stage, be it a bed, a cosmetics cabinet, or the stairs. They ensured the audience was captivated even before any of the actors said a word.
And they succeeded.
