Original set design for Hamlet: “Grave Scene”
London: [1938]. Watercolor and gouache on board, measuring 10.25 x 19 inches. Signed and captioned by Furse to lower image. Placement marks and paper remnants along board margins from previous mat.
Original set design by Roger Furse for the 1938-39 modern dress production of Hamlet at London’s Old Vic Theatre, a successful innovation in stage costuming. Directed by Tyrone Guthrie, the production featured a young Alec Guinness as the Prince of Denmark and André Morrell as Horatio. Both actors had recently joined the Old Vic, and would go on to play a number of Shakespearean roles there. This rainswept set design for Act 5, Scene 1, depicts the gravediggers at one end of the cemetery fence as Ophelia’s funeral procession passes, with Hamlet and Horatio at the other: “Here comes the King, / The Queen, the courtiers. Who is this they follow? / And with such maimed rites?” Furse has captioned the design “‘Hamlet’ modern dress - Grave Scene” along the lower left margin. To the right is his signature and the note “Hamlet – Mr. Alec Guinness – Horatio –Mr. André Morell.” A striking set design from a landmark modern Shakespeare production.
Price: $2,000.00