Jack Phillips

The moment I would take inspiration from would be the moments of scene changes in ‘The
Barbershop Chronicles’ where because the set pieces are on casters, the set changes made by the
actors are choregraphed and smooth and help tell the story and to keep or create an atmosphere.
The actors sang during these moments as well which helped to add to the story and atmosphere,
which made the moment very good in terms of keeping the play moving along at a pace.

I would use this in ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ during the scene change between the
first and second offices to make this change as quick and seamless as possible. I would also use
during the final scene where two different scenarios are played out. After the first one is played out
the actors would move all the set pieces back in reverse to their original places to play out the
second scenario. With the set pieces being on casters, it would make it very easy for the actors to
move these set pieces around and to make a seamless transition ‘back in time’.

The moving of the set pieces around in reverse could symbolise going back in time which is
what is happening in the scene as they are playing out two possible scenarios. It will also help give
the performance a more contemporary feel as the actors are moving the set pieces themselves,
which is more common in modern theatre. It will make for an interesting way of executing the
transition between the first and second office as there is room for the actors to stay in character and
so have interactions such as the Maniac and Constable etc. These interactions could provide comedy
and slapstick which is in keeping with the style of the play.