Beardsley Blown Up

A model of the set. Image: MTCA couple of months ago I had to produce some enormous wall decals for the Melbourne Theatre Company’s VIP room, based on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations for the theatre. The MTC’s current play, The Importance of Being Earnest (starring Geoffrey Rush) has an amazing set: a giant book with pages that flip over, changing the backdrop of each act. The set is a loving copy of Tony Tripp’s original set from the 1988 production.

My brief was to use Beardsley’s illustrations and create two decals. The only daunting aspect was the sheer size: one wall was 4m wide, the other 8m. It was a little like creating a collage, only using Beardsley’s drawings. I felt a bit sacrilegious doing this. 

It was a little like creating a collage, only using Beardsley’s drawings. I felt a bit sacrilegious doing this.

Obviously I did not create the artwork at actual size, but the Photoshop files were so enormous I could not produce press-ready PDFs, as the printers requested. (Photoshop’s response to this outrageous demand was to immediately crash.)

I was concerned about how well the illustrations would hold up when enlarged 1000% (or thereabouts), but when I finally saw them hung in the room, I was impressed. 

There was an additional amusing aspect to the job: I needed to create a cardboard cut-out of Geoffrey Rush costumed as Lady Bracknell – with a hole cut out of his head so punters could stick their heads through and vicariously (and hilariously no doubt) wear a dress. Originally the cut-out was going to be partially hand-drawn, in Beardsley style, but what with the enormity of the decals, and the concern the cut-out would disappear into the background (sort of like camouflage), it was decided to go back to a gilt-framed portrait that was used for some other promotional collateral. Even Geoffrey had a chuckle over that one.