UK - Starring seven-time BAFTA Award-winner Steve Coogan, Dr. Strangelove is the first theatrical adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s comedy masterpiece. Written by Armando Iannucci and directed by Sean Foley, it tells the story of a US general who decides to go rogue and declare a nuclear attack on Russia; who, he discovers, have a Doomsday machine capable of destroying the world.
The show features a lighting design by Olivier Award-winning Jessica Hung Han Yun who approached White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, to supply her lighting rig.
Prior to its run at the Noel Coward Theatre, there was much anticipation leading up to the opening of Dr Strangelove; largely due to the cult status of the film. “I had in fact watched the film many years ago and remembered enjoying it and the lighting specifically,” says Hung Han Yun. “The iconic image of the war room light and the shafts of light in the background have always stayed with me. Similarly, the quality and texture of the light is so vivid in the film; largely due to its legendary cinematographer Gilbert Taylor who has a great eye for light and shadows.
“As such, when I was approached to be part of the production, it was a no-brainer. And given I was so captivated by the film’s style and visual aspects, I was more than happy to allow this to have some influence on my design.”
One of Hung Han Yun’s biggest tasks was allowing the story to make the leap from screen to stage. She explains: “To state the obvious, theatre and film are two completely different mediums so there was always going to be a huge difference in the feel and look of the piece.
“However, I was keen to keep the essence of the original movie running throughout. Hence the challenge was how we could bring this to life in a theatrical sense without simply creating a carbon copy. This largely arose through a focus on the various locations and creating transitional lighting that embodies that perpetual feeling of an unsettling environment as we move through the different set pieces.”
Given the show’s ambitious nature, this meant that, despite knowing what she wanted to achieve, Hung Han Yun’s design kept evolving through both the rehearsal and technical period. “My main objective with the transactions was that they almost acted as storytelling actions in little tableaux. That said, we weren’t entirely sure how these would work until we saw them incorporated as part of the actual show. Similarly, the colour palette developed hugely throughout the production process.
“The original movie is black and white, so having to bring it to stage was brand-new to all of us as we were adding colour to it for the first time. We initially looked at some photos from behind the scenes of the original film, and it was quite fascinating to see how the palette of the costumes evolved and what these eventually became for the stage version.”
Knowing what she wanted to achieve with her lighting design, Hung Han Yun approached the Hire Department at WL to supply her fixtures. “My rig consists of a mixture of MAC Encore Colds, ETC Halcyons, MAC Aura XBs, Solaframes, Par Cans, ETC Source Four Lustr 2s and Rosco Pica Cubes. I actually had each one in a range of positions, mainly to help get around moving set pieces as well as static pieces such as the war room light.
“Specifically, the XBs were used as backlights, Halcyons were used as specials and cross light, whilst the Pica Cubes were utilised for footlights and for the plane in the bottom area as little backlight fixtures.
“The biggest challenge was that each piece setting had its own obstacles. A prime example is the war room light as this huge item flew in and obviously took up a vast section of the stage. As such, it became a case of working out the right angles for the fixtures and where best to position them. Ironically, in this show, it was the most simple scenes, such as those that take place in Ripper’s office, which were often the most complicated.”
Hung Han Yun concludes: “I’m incredibly proud of what the creative and production teams have achieved on Dr Strangelove. I’d also like to say a huge thank you to the Hire Team at WL for their support throughout.”
