Stage TechnologyBringing the fast-paced narrative of the novels to the stage has proved an immensely complex task involving more than a hundred scene changes and over fifty sets across the two productions. This has made great demands upon the creative and technical teams. From the outset director Nicholas Hytner was determined to use the stage technology at the National Theatre to its full potential. At the heart of the operation is the vast Olivier stage. However the crucial feature is the drum revolve. This is a giant lift, which raises and lowers the centre of the stage to reveal new sets. The drum revolve, has a room inside it, the so-called Droom the height of an entire storey in two D-shaped . The whole stage stage can turn, or just the edge (the rim revolve). Using the drum revolve to meet the dramatic challenges of staging His Dark Materials has proved a boon, as Anna Maxwell Martin (Lyra) notes in her diary. You can see the Droom deployed in the technical rehearsal of the scene in the Bolvangar canteen. Actress Inika Leigh-Wright who plays one of the children in the scene explains what it feels like to be below stage inside the Droom waiting to go on. As the technical rehearsal went on, however, it became apparent that there were just too many scene changes to cope with. This proved to be one of them. In the finished production the action moved from the canteen to the Bolvangar exterior. The use of the Droom in this scene was dropped. |