Today was the first of three days in the Leidse Schouwburg (Leiden’s municipal theater) in which I will be able (with the help of a crew of hearty volunteers) to explore the collection of theater sets I purchased just a year ago now in Belgium. The sets were created somewhere between 1900 and 1920, yet many of them are distinctly old-fashioned in conception, with a single vanishing point and making use of a forced perspective. It was physically a very heavy day today, and an early start, so I am too tired to write much now, but I shall be posting fun bits here in the coming days.
The project is a collaboration between the Leiden theatre, The Utrecht Early Music Festival and Leiden University, many thanks to these generous partners. Today we only hung one set. It took time for us to figure out how far apart the drops needed to be hung, and how to light them…but the result was magical!
What a wonderful project to conserve and even use the theater sets.
i am looking forward to the play with the historical surroundings on the scene.
Can you please tell me when in December it will happen?
Kind regards
Thanks for your comment! We are organizing a three-day theatre event in Leiden in the Schouwburg and Stadsgehoorzaal, from 2-4 December 2022, followed by a three day academic symposium at the Universiteit Leiden. The Vandenberghe sets will be used on December 3rd, for an evening performance in the Leidse Schouwburg. I will post more information here in September.