Workbook
Some preliminary images, words, ideas for our production of Anatol by Arthur Schnitzler at the Vancouver Playhouse
Prelimary CAD elevations; sent to technical director and production manager for cost estimate
Below; from the first scene of our new adaptation for the Vancouver Playhouse. Max will be played by David Marr, Anatol by Mike Shara, and all seven women by Jennifer Lines; Christopher Cochrane debuts in multiple roles
the set is inspired by buildings such as this, part of the Viennese secessionist movement
text based on Arthur Schnitzler; above, a costume sketch for the debonair Anatol
MAX
I wouldnt have believed it if I hadnt seen it with my own two eyes.
ANATOL
Hypnosis isnt for everybody; but he was a good subject.
MAX
Counting backwards from ten, and he didnt even get to nine.
ANATOL
Asleep at the drop of a hat.
MAX
And completely under your spell.
ANATOL
Naturally.
MAX
When you told him he was a ballerina he spun like a top.
ANATOL
Yes.
MAX
And when you told him that his mother had died
ANATOL
He cried. Poor boy.
MAX
Unbelievable.
ANATOL
No more unbelievable than life, Max. Were all of us magicians in our own right, and all of us susceptible to magic. If only I could hypnotize myself. Now that would be useful.
MAX
You mean you cant?
ANATOL
Believe me, Ive tried. Ive followed this pocket watch back and forth, back and forth, back and forth wake up, Max.
MAX
Sorry.
ANATOL
And on the count of three, Ive said to myself, on the count of three, you will wake up and the memory of that woman will be gone forever.
MAX
Which one is this?
ANATOL
You know perfectly well.
MAX
The red head?
ANATOL
Red head?
MAX
With the high pitched laugh who says drat all the time like some character in an British spy novel?
ANATOL
Did I go out with a red head with a high pitched laugh who said drat all the time, like a character in a British spy novel?
MAX
Yes.
ANATOL
Not her.
MAX
Who, then?
ANATOL
The girl I am going out with at the moment; who else? The one whos driving me completely and utterly insane.
MAX
The girl youre going out with at the moment is always the one whos driving you completely and utterly insane.
ANATOL
Thats not true. Is it? You think you know me so well.
MAX
I know you well enough.
ANATOL
Hilda.
MAX
Hilda?
ANATOL
Dont say it like that?
MAX
Alright. Hilda?
ANATOL
Whats wrong with Hilda?
MAX
You tell me. I thought you broke up with her. You said she was deceiving you.
ANATOL
Well, I couldnt prove it.
MAX
Exactly. And thats what was driving you insane. You couldnt prove it, so you made yourself mad with ungrounded suspicion, until you had convinced yourself of something which had absolutely no basis in fact, because the fact is
ANATOL
Here we go. The fact is
MAX
The fact is, the woman you have in your life is never the woman you want.
ANATOL
Not true.
MAX
You know my theory.
ANATOL
Whats your theory?
MAX
You dont really like women.
ANATOL
Of course you think that. You dont really like women.
MAX
Not the way you do.
ANATOL
The way I do?
MAX
Recklessly. So you havent broken up with Hilda.
ANATOL
No.
MAX
But shes deceiving you.
ANATOL
Yes.
MAX
I see.
ANATOL
Dont say it like that.
MAX
Like what?
ANATOL
I see, like you dont see at all.
MAX
I dont.
ANATOL
Of course you dont.
MAX
So you found proof?
ANATOL
Of what?
MAX
Infidelity.
ANATOL
This isnt about proof.
MAX
Oh, it isnt.
ANATOL
You say proof as if it was a scientific experiment. A man knows when hes being deceived; why? Because he always is being deceived. Women cheat; its a fact. They dont even think of it as cheating. They have three or four lovers at a time the way I have three or four books on the go.
MAX
Really?
ANATOL
Well, alright, its true, I dont even have one book on the go, but you get my point.
MAX
Youre illiterate?
ANATOL
That shes not faithful to me and thats all there is to it.
MAX
Whos the other man?
ANATOL
Other man?
MAX
There has to be another man.
ANATOL
Youre right; there has to be another man. No there doesnt. It could be a man she has yet to find, out there, somewhere, waiting to be discovered by her; walking in the park, shopping for fish, having his earwax removed.
MAX
Im not sure how she would discover a man having his earwax removed.
ANATOL
Youre not hearing what Im saying.
MAX
Maybe its the earwax.
ANATOL
Women are destined to be unfaithful, and its only a matter of time before they are. And what reason could she possibly have for not being unfaithful? Shes young, shes alive, shes a woman. And when I ask her how much she loves me she does that cute thing with one hand and says this much because she knows as well as I do that it doesnt mean eternally, that there is no end to her love for me, it only means, my dear Anatol, so far as my next encounter. Sure, at the moment shes being faithful but thats only because she hasnt yet been confronted with the object of her unfaithfulness. And also, lets face it, women dont run around telling you theyre unfaithful when they havent even got around to it yet, and even then its doubtful theyd tell you. Wheres the hope of ever knowing the truth with women? You must be so happy to have nothing to do with them.
MAX
Where did you get that impression?
ANATOL
What impression?
MAX
You were saying.
ANATOL
I was saying that even if she is actually faithful to me, its only by chance. She isnt waking up every morning thinking I must be true to Anatol. Shes not thinking anything.
MAX
She must be thinking something.
ANATOL
Youd be surprised.
MAX
What if she actually deeply, truly, madly loves you?
ANATOL
Even worse.
MAX
How?
ANATOL
I actually deeply, truly, madly love her, and Im not faithful in the least.
MAX
True, but men are traditionally unfaithful. Theyd be a disappointment if they werent.
ANATOL
Men and women, as it turns out, arent really all that different. If I lie to a woman, tell her I love her, even though Ive been with another woman that same afternoon, I dont feel as if Im lying to her.
MAX
I see. If you lie to her, you dont feel as if youre lying to her.
ANATOL
Did I say that?
MAX
Yes.
ANATOL
What I mean to say is that if I dont tell women the truth, how can I expect them to do the same? Do you think, of all the women who have asked me, begged me to tell them if I am faithful, I have ever told a single one of them the truth. Id be out of my mind.
MAX
You are out of your mind.
ANATOL
Damn her! How dare she lie to me the way I lie to her. It isnt fair. If only there was some way of knowing the truth.
MAX
But according to you, you already know the truth.
ANATOL
Well, allow me a shred of doubt for Gods sake.
MAX
What about your famous hypnosis?
ANATOL
What about it?
MAX
Weve seen it as a party trick, sure, but why not put it to some real use.
ANATOL
Real use.
MAX
You put her to sleep and you say...
ANATOL
Wait. I have an idea.
MAX
Let me guess.
ANATOL
I put her to sleep with hypnosis.
MAX
Brilliant.
ANATOL
And I get her to what?
MAX
Tell you the truth?
ANATOL
No. Wait. I get her to tell me the truth.
MAX
Why didnt I think of it?
ANATOL
Because, Max, you dont think of these things.
MAX
Im not that devious.
ANATOL
You think its devious?
MAX
Yes.
ANATOL
The best ideas usually are.
MAX
What if the truth is, god forbid, that shes completely faithful?
ANATOL
See for yourself.
MAX
You want me to stick around?
ANATOL
No. But otherwise, if I tell you she confessed to her infidelity, how are you going to believe me?
MAX
Because Im more trusting than you?
ANATOL
No youre not.
MAX
No Im not. (a knock at the door)
ANATOL
Speak of the devil.
MAX
Hilda?
ANATOL
What she lacks in trustworthiness she makes up for in punctuality.
Anatol throws the door open. HILDA is there.
ANATOL
Hilda!
Schoenberg music which we used in a production of Hysteria by Terry Johnson at Canadian Stage, now seems much more suited to this kind of production. We are trying to match the crazy experimental excitement of the period with the weird precision and crazy genius of this modern master.
preliminary sketches for main set piece; a gigantic set of working drawers; this idea was originally used by us in an Anatol production at the Belfry Theatre fourteen years ago, which was directed by Glynis Leyshon, and starred Morris as Anatol. The set idea was later modified in an altogether different way for a production of Hysteria at Canadian Stage some years later.
Different adaptations require different approaches. If you dont speak the originally language you need to rely on information from existing English adaptations which may or may not be in the public domain or find somebody who is willing to provide you with a word for word translation which you can then adapt. In Canada , public domain usually means the author has been dead for at least fifty years. However, although the original author may have been dead for that long, the English adaptor might still be around. For instance, Bernard Shaw is now in the public domain, whereas Moliere might not be
the inspiration for Nancy Bryant costumes might come from such Schnitzler contemporaries as Gustav Klimt; at right a dressing gown for Liona in Scene Seven
From 1993 Belfry Production designed by Ken, directed by Glynis Leyshon, and starring Morris as Anatol; notice slide projections of Magritte images which were used as scene transitions; we might do something similar
Freud was a contemporary of Schnitzler and considered the playwright his literary double We decided it would be interesting to make Max a psychoanalyst
Arthur Schnitzler; does he look like he knows what women want?
Webern in also a possibility. The sound designer for this production is John McCullough
Nancy was featured in December 07 on our People page; you can visit her website at www.nancybryant.ca; here is a Klimt inspired fabric swatch for robe
Mike Shara plays Anatol
Jennifer Lines will play all seven female characters! How will she differentiate them? Good acting; great wigs
David Marr is our inscrutable Max; left, a Nancy Bryant costume sketch for Max in Scene Five
Direct from the Langara acting program, newcomer Christopher Cochrane will play multiple roles
Harley Granville-Barker did the first English adaptation of Anatol published in 1911
Down in the Playhouse costume department, Nancy is showing us some stock costumes that will be remade for Jennifer; one is a beautiful period coat, donated years ago and now put to use, with added fur, for Gabriele in Scene Two
Ken discusses furniture props with Peter Jotkus, our stage manager. In order to rehearse we need items that replicate somewhat the actual items used on stage, so that the actors and director can better simulate what will happen. There is no point sitting on the back of a chair, for instance, that will have no back, or will never support weight.
Dale in the Playhouse scene shop working on top molding
Vince, in the Playhouse shop, works on the centre detailing for the back wall
Jennifer Lines appears as seven different women, differentiated by these beautiful Nancy Bryant period costumes; the colour sketches were presented at the first day of rehearsal, along with the maquette for the Ken MacDonald set design.
Costume sketch for Hilda
Hand coloured CAD renderings for Justus, our painter. Ken tries to create a uniform colour palette for the show, which Nancy (costumes) and Alan (lights) subsequently use to make choices about accents; for both light and material.
David and Jennifer (as Liona) rehearse the final scene of the play; we are trying to match the music with their dialogue.
We have decided on Schonberg music after all, a sample of it here, which will be edited and used for scene transitions
First day on set; David Jennifer and Mike take a break on the settee while Alan Brodie busily builds more lighting cues. For this show there are about a hundred cues, which is typically not a lot, but what they lack in number, they make up for in beauty.
Nancy and wigmaker Stacey Butterworth fit Jennifer for hat and wig; this one for the character of Gabrielle. Stacey has made wigs for dozens of theatre productions as well as for film
Shots from dress rehearsal; Mike checks his watch, Jennifer and David eat oysters, and a Klimt woman makes a brief appearance during a scene transition
Opening night
Opening nights can be nerve wracking for actors, directors, playwrights, but for a designer, when the ladder nearly comes off its rails, as it did on our opening, it can be a heartstopping moment not just for Ken but for everyone. Nonetheless, the evening was a big success. Here, as the actors prepare to go onstage, the audience gathers in the lobby in anticipation of the Amorous Adventures of Anatol.
Mike goofs around with David as Jennifer makes herself up; she plans to add more makeup as the act goes on, luckily the sassiest of her women come later in the act.
