Chloe Lamford, the lead set designer, had looked to the books, the series and to fan art when seeking inspiration, she said. “You have to approach it with a love and respect for the world that exists,” she added. But the design had to be specific to the stage. “We can’t make things like TV,” she said. “We can’t make real worlds. We make abstract worlds, because the audience’s imagination fills the room.”
Plenty of costumes, props and weapons were being borrowed from past Royal Shakespeare Company productions, and in a building that housed its archive, a collections manager had arranged a sampling — crowns, shields and sweat-stained doublets, some of which would be repurposed. (An associate asked, “Would you like to see our severed head collection?”) The point of the display was to show that “Game of Thrones: The Mad King” was just one history play among many. This one would, of course, require a new and likely very pointy throne, the specifics of which were being kept secret.
An epic, even with abstraction, is no easy undertaking. Previews were originally scheduled for July 20, then delayed, then delayed again, with a Royal Shakespeare Company spokeswoman citing “the ambitious and epic nature of this production.” A throne isn’t built in a day.
For some ticket buyers, that throne will be the lure; for others it will be the Shakespeare connection. “We’ve got to take both audiences along with us and everyone in between,” Macmillan said.
Macmillan, speaking before the delays, said he felt up to the challenge. He remembered being brought to the Royal Shakespeare Company as a child to see his first Shakespeare plays. It took him a little time to adjust to the language, to the weight of history behind the stories, he recalled. Then he was all in — crying, laughing, awed. He wants that for others.
“Really, I just want people to be overwhelmed, particularly if it’s their first time ever seeing a play,” he said. “I just want them to sort of say, ‘Wow.’”
Derrick Bryson Taylor contributed reporting.
