DESIGNS FOR SETTINGS IN ANDREYEV'S "LIFE OF MAN" ARE COMPLETED

The designs for the settings of the five scenes of Andreyev's "Life of Man', have been completed by D. M. Oenslager '23, it was announced last night by the Dramatic Club. The settings follow the trend of the impressionistic school, the stage of suggestion; with no attempt at any realistic illusion. All of the five scenes is set against a background formed by a black cycloramic cone covered with grey gauze. The settings harmonize with the mood and action of the play, beginning with the humble scene of Man's birth and reaching its climax in his magnificence in the third act and then declining into a distorted chaos which reflects the final note of the play.

Note of Lowliness in Scene 1

Scene I discloses the room adjoining the chamber in which Man is born, giving a note of lowliness and poverty. There is one large central window with two odd high backed chairs on each side.

Scene II is a bright, gray room brilliantly lighted. A rose color predominates, with green and blue designs on the walls. This represents Man in all his youth and happiness just after his marriage.

In Scene III Man is at the summit of his career and all is magnificence and splendor. The action is in a great ballroom with a raised platform at one end, across which Man makes his triumphant way. There is a great central window showing a deep blue sky in the center of the stage. The railing around the raised platform, which is reached by two sets of steps, is of gilt and a great

tinsel chandelier hangs from the ceilings.

Scene IV marks the first stage of Man's decline. Off stage his son is dying. The two windows of the study are beginning to be twisted. The color scheme reflects strange combinations in blue, green and lavender.

The fifth and last scene represents the end of Man's career, reflecting the utter confusion that attends his downfall. The two windows now twisted drunkenly stand out in silver draped with large swirling folds of blue gauze. A bed, oddly out of proportion, is seen in silhouette at the left, with a misshapen fireplace to the right, the whole combination reflecting to a remarkable degree the mood in which the play closes.

Costumes in Accord with Settings

The costumes, which are kept in accord with the settings, are being designed by Oenslager and John McAndrew '24. The lightning, which is being handled by Donald Stralem '24, assisted by H. K. Prince '24 and W. M. Tucker '23 has presented unusual difficulties due to the impressionistic demands of the play itself. In order to cope with the inadequate facilities of Brattle Hall, a cantilever lighting bridge 26 feet long and 20 feet high has been constructed, from which all apparatus can be controlled. The system of lighting the speaker strongly the while leaving in partial darkness the rest of the stage, will be employed.

For the ballroom scene in Act three a piece of eanvas, gold-painted, will be stretched over the top of the stage and the lights will be directed against it, thus illuminating the stage by a smooth soft reflected light which casts no shadows and which permits the use of colored spotlights on the principal characters