Some of the London theatre special effects used in productions are so sophisticated that the audience faints and vomits. The Globe had to station ambulances outside for the Lucy Bailey production of Titus Andronicus as members of the audience were so overcome that they required medical help.
How are Theatre Effects Created in the London Theatre?
Creating realistic theatre effects is a skill that marks out an amateur production from one that is top drawer. But you will be surprised to discover the simplicity of the most dastardly tricks of the eye and ear.
Special Effect: Dead Animals
The dead and bleeding deer in the National Theatre production of King Lear was so realistic that audience members wrote in to complain about dead animals being used on set. It was, in fact, a prop produced from layers of foam and fake fur.
Foam was used at the National Theatre to create a dead deer.
Props: Heavy Machinery
Canons, wagons, cars and huge machines may look as if they are made of cast iron and heavy metals but many are made of cardboard and then painted to resemble the mud spattered real thing. Just think, they would otherwise be too heavy to move on stage.
Cardboard is often used to construct heavy looking machinery and vehicles.
Wardrobe: Old, Worn Clothes
The wardrobe department often needs to age clothes to make them seem worn. They do this by putting damp newspaper in the pockets to create bulges, abrading clothes with sandpaper or burning them and rubbing soap and vaseline into the collars.
Damp newspaper can be stuffed into pockets to make them look used
Damp newspaper can be stuffed into pockets to make them look used
Special Effect: Flying People
It can be breathtaking to see actors flying through the sky or ascending into heaven. They are being suspended on fine heavy duty wire that is so strong it can carry 200 kilos.
Fine heavy duty wire can suspend actors and give the impression of them flying
Special Effect: Explosions
The force of many on stage explosions and the flying debris can have the audience holding their heads and crouching for cover. These special effects are often achieved by using compressed air to expel harmless materials like foam and cork that look like flying debris.
Cork and foam expelled by compressed air can look like flying debris
Special Effect: Bleeding Wounds
Bleedings wounds can look frighteningly realistic. Often the actor is holding a bulb of fake blood in his hand with a tube attached to it and as he squeezes, the blood goes to the site of the wound. For stabbing wounds, the actor may have a pouch of fake blood stored in an inside pocket of their costume that bursts when it is pressed with a retractable knife.
Ketchup is not used. Fake blood is made from a liquid that is easy to rinse out.
Pouches of fake, easy to rinse out, blood are used to mimic injury
Prop: Champagne
If you see an actor drinking champagne on stage it is probably ginger ale, it has just the right fizz and colour. More’s the pity!
Ginger beer looks just like champagne
Food eaten on stage is probably the real thing but if the food is a prop it is often a model made using moulds taken from the food item.
Prop: Fire Arms
Often the gun that you see may be a decommissioned fire arm that has been adapted so that it can’t fire real bullets and cause injury.
Some firearms are the real thing but adapted so that they an’t fire ammunition
Sounds: Squished Flesh
How are sounds of splintered bones and crushed bodies achieved? By pummelling a frozen lettuce, of course.
Frozen lettuce sounds like squished flesh if bashed
Sounds: The Sea
A surprising number of theatre productions require a backdrop of the sound of the sea, of waves crashing against the shore. What you may be hearing is a sound track of amplified, dried peas being rolled around on a tray.
Dried peas are rolled around on a tray to mimic the sound of the sea
Sounds: Crackling Fire
Were you being taken in by the cosy real flame, crackling fire in your theatre production? What you may have been listening to is a recording of someone crumpling empty crisp packets.
Crumpled crisp packets sound like a crackling fire
Sounds: Flapping Wings
Were you transported to a desert island when you heard the sounds of flying birds in Treasure Island? Well come out of your reverie because what was probably recorded was the slapping together of a pair of leather gloves.
Slapping together leather gloves sounds like birds in flight
By now you must be wondering where you can witness these special effects. Check out our post on how to choose a London theatre.
Props: Smashed Vases
A prop master’s heart must sink when the play requires an actor to smash a vase to smithereens on stage. They will need to source as many vases as there are performances plus a few extra!
And someone with a delft touch may need to give them a little tap with a hammer in advance of the performance to make sure that they definitely do break on stage.
Where theatre directions call for a smashed vase a large number of vases needs to be bought
Find out More About Props, Sounds and Special Effects in London Theatre
The National Theatre has produced a fascinating book All About Theatre by Marina McIntyre 2015 published by Walker Books which is where I have gleaned many of these gems. You can purchase it here.
And beat a path to the National Theatre on the Southbank for some of the best London theatre performances with the most realistic and mesmerising, props, sounds and special effects.
London West End theatre offers a dizzying choice. I go to the theatre most nights and I have some tips on how to to avoid a dud.
Begin by Choosing the Right London West End Theatre
My success lies mostly in selecting the right venue…that’s right, the venue is absolutely key. Each theatre has a budget for a play which determines all critical factors like its director, cast and set design. The better known West End theatres simply have bigger budgets! And that means one thing, more razzmatazz!
Different London West End theatres are known for producing different types of plays. Here is a general guide.
The Dominion and The Palladium are the Biggest Theatres in the West End
The Palladium is one of the biggest theatres the London West End. Expect block busters.
The theatres with the highest seating capacity are more likely to produce “blockbusters” with mass appeal. Theatres like the Palladium and the Dominion need to fill thousands of seats each evening they won’t put on esoteric play that would be attractive to only a small sector of the theatre-going public. And as they have bigger stages, you are likely to find large cast musicals with elaborate stage effects…think cars, helicopters and aerial stunts.
The Savoy is one of the Smallest but Most Stylish Theatres in the London West End
The Savoy Theatre was rebuilt in 1929 as a magic miracle of Art Deco modernism, by Rupert D’Oyly Carte with the architect Frank Tugwell and decorative designer Basil Ionides.
I always think that its productions echo the values of the adjacent Savoy Hotel that shares its name; classy, stylish and with plenty of glamour. Expect music, beautiful costumes, dancing girls, clever staging. And there are some lovely bars which let you bask in its jazz age setting.
The Trafalgar Theatre is known for its Avant Garde Productions
The Trafalgar Theatre specialises in productions that are vibrant and cutting edge. The smaller of the two studios is a stage in the round where you feel that you are on set with the performers. Often portraying harrowing, or controversial subject matter, the performances are emotional and breathtaking.
Pay Attention to the Playwright and Casting at the Duke of York, the Garrick, the Noel Coward, the Wyndhams, the Vaudeville, the Adelphi, the Lyric, the Vaudeville, the Theatre Royal
Dotted around St Martins Lane, The Strand and Haymarket are a number of theatres primarily owned by the Ambassador Theatre Group, Delfont Mackintosh and Nimax. You can expect to see a wide range of plays and musicals with everything from everything from Ibsen to Meat Loaf. It’s hard to generalise about these productions so pay special attention to the playwright, reviews and casting.
Theatres Outside the London West End That Offer a Unique Experience
The National Theatre on Southbank Has a Wide Arts Remit
The brutalist, concrete exterior of the National Theatre
The National Theatre on the South Bank is state subsidised theatre with a remit to promote the arts to the widest possible and most diverse audience. Here you will find productions of high artistic merit. The NT usually push the boat out with their special effects, sounds and lighting systems. There are three stages at the NT, the largest stage is The Olivier and there is a smaller, newer theatre, The Dorfman, at the rear of the building, which I always feel is more akin to the Young Vic…showing avant garde productions appealing to a younger, Converse trainer wearing audience.
The Globe and The Sam Wanamaker Produce Memorable Shakespearean and Revival Plays
The Globe Theatre on the South Bank
The Globe is a specialist Shakespearian Theatre which produces authentic Shakespearian drama. As far as the Board of Directors is concerned, this means mostly two things, “shared light” and “no voice amplification”.
‘Shared light’ is able to provide an atmosphere wherein the people onstage are playing ‘with’ rather than ‘to’ or ‘at’ those in the audience.
A few years ago, the Globe hired a brilliant artistic director, Emma Rice, who introduced stage lighting and microphones but this wasn’t really “Shakespeare” so she fell on her sword. You can find out more about this controversy on The Guardian website.
This is the place where men and woman “shout Shakespeare” and it all makes for a historically accurate and riveting Shakespearian experience.
If you are on a budget with a lot of stamina, you can buy standing tickets for £5 per performance. Those that do so, are called “groundlings”
However, not many groundlings can last the full duration of the play. The staff have a special mission to make sure that groundlings don’t lean on the wooden posts, or sit on the floor!
The Globe is only open during the summer months as there is an open roof. Wrap up warmly if you are attending an evening performance and hire a cushion if you don’t relish sitting for several hours on a hard bench.
Inside the Globe there is a newer theatre, The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which is a little wooden timbered and stencilled, jewel box of a theatre, lit by candles. It specialises in small period plays. This is one of my favourite theatres – small, intimate and with a special atmosphere.
The Old Vic and the Young Vic Theatres in Waterloo Offer Unusual and Unique Plays
The Old Vic is a not-for-profit beautiful and slightly decaying, grand, traditional theatre with historic decor performing high quality drama and musicals. Famed for its £10 previews…I am still gutted when I think of the performances there that I have missed.
The Young Vic is an offshoot of the Old Vic aiming at a hip and cool younger audience (diverse and engaged) with cutting edge material performed in the round.
Frank Dunlop, the Young Vic director, wanted to create a new kind of theatre for a new generation – one that was unconventional, classless, open, circus-like and cheap.
The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Offers a Memorable Experience in All Weathers
The Regents Park Open Air theatre is not in the London West End…you’ll find it in the middle of Regents Park. I remember my first visit to the Regents Park Open Air Theatre and how I kept double checking the weather forecast and the night temperatures. Not least as their plays always proceed almost regardless of the weather.
A lovely, balmy sunny day where you are donning sun hats and slathering on sun scream quickly becomes a night of freezing temperatures, where you are rustling in your bag for hats, scarfs and thick coats and even blankets. Rain rarely deters this theatre either. They will stop the performance for a few minutes and the audience hurries to the bar and prays for it to stop.
This theatre epitomises “summer in the city” for me…you can get there early and walk through the confetti-like rose garden, grab a drink or a pizza in the park cafe or hire a deckchair in the park before the show.
The theatre opens two hours beforehand to enable people to eat their picnics or indulge in their legendary burgers that are barbecued in the garden.
And then there is the excitement of the show and the the thrill of the weather!
Other London West End Theatre Considerations
Playwright
Don’t sail blythely into a production if your unaware of the genre of the play. For example Samuel Beckett or Jean Paul Sartre plays usually have a small cast and a dystopian theme…think half a dozen people locked in a room, sitting on a sofa, or a woman up to her neck in rubble for the duration of the first act.
Plays by Eugene O’Neill or Tennessee Williams may be set in the American mid west and explore themes of alienation and the American Dream. Hard work for some!
Or a historical reenactment of Webster’s Duchess of Malfi will have blood, guts and madness at his heart with a rendition in Jacobean English.
Everyone has their own tastes but make sure that you choose a play that best suits your particular palate.
Cast
Check the cast beforehand
Famous names, like Simon Russell Beale, famed for his Shakespearian roles and Maggie Smith, of Downton Abbey fame, will only appear in top notch productions. So check the cast as this can indicate the strength of the play.
Press Reviews
Check but don’t slavishly believe all the press reviews
I have often seen amazing performances that the critics have hated. Sometimes I think that we have been to two different plays! Therefore, I don’t pay too much attention to an isolated poor review. However, if the play is consistently poorly reviewed across a range of media, you want to consider giving it a miss or buy a cheaper seat, so that you have less invested.
Look at the Theatre Website in Advance
Check the Theatre Website
The play will be promoted on the London West End theatre’s website. You will doubtless find a gallery of photographs and possibly a video as well. The synopsis, costumes and cast list should give you an accurate flavour of the production.
The theatre management may have also uploaded to Youtube.
It is invariably forbidden to use your phone for video or audio recording within a theatre.
Check that Seasonal Specials are to your Taste
Going to the theatre in Winter
At Christmas, it is common for theatres in the West End to put on pantomimes and Christmas themed productions like Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. It will explain on the website if these productions are suitable for children and adults alike.
Don’t make my mistake and go to see The Snowman and find yourself surrounded by an audience of toddlers in fancy dress waving fairy wands.
General London West End Seating Tips
London West End Seating Tips
The most expensive seats in a London West End theatre are the front row of the stalls and the boxes. The boxes have more prestige but often have a slightly restricted view as they are usually at right angles to the stage.The front rows of the dress circle are also good seats. As you move further towards the back row the view can be slightly restricted or you feel further away from the action. In the Upper Circle, you will definitely benefit from bringing opera glasses. Some theatres have a further level knowns as the Balcony or the Ampitheatre. Seats here can be surprisingly cheap and it is a good way of trying out something that isn’t in your usual genre.
Are you also an opera fan? If so you may enjoy our tips on a night at the London opera. You can also check out our blog post on how London Theatre’s achieve their ultra realistic special effects.
With these tips you are well equipped to make the best London West End theatre choices.
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Fine heavy duty wire can suspend actors and give the impression of them flying
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