Midnight & Magnolias

We went to see Midnight & Magnolias which is a performance based on the writing of Gone With The Wind. The entire piece was set in one room which I was skeptical of at first as I feel that the acting and content needs to be too a higher standard than usual as the effect of the set starts to wear off after a while as we aren't seeing anything new, however some of the visual effects they used did give the set a different feel through different scenes. I noticed that in the window the clouds would move and change as the day passed and the changing of the colour of the sky was a simple yet effective way of showing the passing of time. The use of projection to show snippets of the film itself was interesting and was a nice way of making it feel like you had entered a different space without seeming like an unnecessary use of technology.

Personally I felt that the set was slightly ahead of its time and had more of a 50s feel rather than the 30s which is when the play was set. Despite this I did find the different components of the set fit well together and you could tell that this was an office belonging to a person with a lot of money and power. I also liked the simple act of moving the sofa up stage and the food trolley stage left as it opened up an entirely new acting space which allowed for a lot of acting like the slapping scene at the end of act one. The costumes were chosen very well as definitely had a 30s vibe about them and the chosen colour scheme matched the room and the whole image tied together nicely.