Livio Di Bernardo

Scenography "Henry IV"

"La mia vita è questa! Non è la vostra! – La vostra, in cui siete invecchiati, io non l'ho vissuta!" Enrico IV

The scenography of the first act is made by a squared grid (1 x 1 meters) filled with white fiberglass cubes appearing like old wooden beams with a lot of cracks. These blocks stand for the passing of time and at the beginning of the show they are all parallel. During the first act, the cubes are moved forwards and backwards by hydraulic pistons.

Beside the throne, a golden volume in the middle of the scene, we have two portraits printed on the fiberglass cubes. Because of the period in which the writer lived, I chose figures from Picasso’s paintings.

In the grid all around the golden throne we find empty spaces that indicate the king’s solitude after the fall from horse. Even the cubes are all different instead of the throne that remains firm and unchanged all along the show. Of course the throne symbolizes the king, Henry IV.

In the second act the story takes place in the living room of the villa. I designed it as a unique block that includes fireplace and stairs as the Wright’s thought for houses. Helping the audience identifying into that place, and also for the story development, I added some armchairs, a little desk and a huge chandelier. On the right side of the scene we can see a fogged window showing a snowy landscape.

In the third act we will find again the grid of the first act, but instead of the paintings we will see the real actors moving in the scene. The grid is accompanied by lateral wings reproducing the same draws of the cubes and all the scenes will appear like a claustrophobic space. It is due to the king’s final revelations to Matilde and Belcredi.