While watching a performance of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the work of the director was quite clear. I often have trouble trying to determine how much of an influence the director actually has on a production by observing acting choices and design choices. What made the directorial choices so clear was the unison of the production. All of the choices fit so well together that a well-informed audience member easily saw the director's work.
             One of the more interesting design choices that I noticed early on was the lack of sufficient masking. The black curtains hanging on each end of the stage barely hid the double doors to the well-lit stairwell from the audience's vision. Whenever any actor walked through the double doors, the audience was distracted for an instant and reminded that they were attending a show; a performance. This seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the night and seemed to be large part of the director's concept.
             The next scenic design choice that tied in well was the fact that the flats were all just a little to small in width. As an audience member, I was allowed to see the edges of scenery and into areas that should have been "forbidden". Set pieces that weren't in use were sometimes visible through the cracks as well as stagehands, and fire extinguishers; actors getting into place and waiting for their cues were often seen in the wings. These specifics also tied in well with the director's concept and interpretation. They really weren't all that distracting and only reinforced the feeling of a live performance at a music hall.
             Along the same lines was the use of footlights. Of course, the script makes a direct reference to an actor not appearing "up here under the footlights" but such a line could be considered an expression like "in the lime light". The poorly covered footlights often shined in the eyes of the
             Another aspect of the scenic design that reinforced this idea was the use o...