Design

The scenes in the musical move very swiftly from one to another and so there can be little attention to intricate sets. However, the characters in the play are based on historical figures, who paid a great deal of attention to detail, so any set, prop or multi-media affect must reflect the Pre-Raphaelite world that the characters come from.

The musical focuses both visually and emotionally on the way that life reflects art and vice versa. Throughout the musical a series of stained glass windows, based on the story of Tristan and Isolde, are being created by the artists on stage - actors pose for them, paint them and discuss them. The story of the windows is also mirrored by the events which happen to the characters in the musical. Not only are they producing art based on the story of Tristan and Isolde but this story also anticipates and influences what happens in their own lives.

These visual images are integral to the musical and so we have decided to use them as a starting point to fuse both modern multimedia art and the art of the Pre-Raphaelites, which was also ground breaking in its day. JABOD worked with the company to weave this idea into the creative process for the Oxford Playhouse Workshop Performance of the musical. They used still and animated images based on the stained glass windows and other important paintings produced by the artists at the time the story of the musical took place.

William Morris particularly believed in the unity of design, where every part is designed to be part of a whole. However, the multimedia aspect will only serve to illustrate the artistic influence on the musical and is not a dominant part of the show.

During the time that the real Rossetti and Jane Morris had their alleged affair, the Tristan and Isolde stained glass windows were actually being created by Morris and Co. for Harden Grange in Yorkshire. They are now housed in the Bradford City Art Gallery.

The costumes that the main characters and the two children wear must also conform, at least stylistically, to the clothes that the Pre-Raphaelites wore. Bessy and Mr.Carter’s ordinary Victorian clothes will show up the eccentricity of the Pre-Raphaelites in contrast.