Will Simpson

Theatre · Nottingham Playhouse / Belgrade Theatre · 2013

Charlie Peace

Victorian crime, fairground spectacle and illustrated scenery brought to the stage.

My role: Projection Design

Charlie Peace production photograph

Michael Eaton's musical melodrama follows the Victorian burglar and murderer whose life became a fairground attraction. Staged by Giles Croft for Nottingham Playhouse and Coventry's Belgrade Theatre in 2013, it treats the distance between the man and his legend as part of the show.

Eddie Campbell's drawings give that world its character. The projection turns Barney George's theatre facade into streets, rooms, railway carriages and prison walls, carrying the hand-drawn detail through each change of scene. My work was to bring that illustrated scenery into motion and onto the set.

Michael Eaton interview · Production announcement · Production review

Material

Pl. 01 · Film Performance sample
Charlie Peace, performers against a red wallpaper silhouette projection
Pl. 02 Charlie Peace, performers against a red wallpaper silhouette projection

Production photographs

Charlie Peace, the bright music-hall frontage filling the stage
Pl. 01 Charlie Peace, the bright music-hall frontage filling the stage
Charlie Peace, actor before a cyan clock and church projection
Pl. 02 Charlie Peace, actor before a cyan clock and church projection
Charlie Peace, performers beneath a projected decorative arch
Pl. 03 Charlie Peace, performers beneath a projected decorative arch
Charlie Peace, wax museum silhouettes across the theatre facade
Pl. 04 Charlie Peace, wax museum silhouettes across the theatre facade
Charlie Peace, an industrial wheel and architecture projected across the set
Pl. 05 Charlie Peace, an industrial wheel and architecture projected across the set
Charlie Peace, performers in a blue exterior landscape
Pl. 06 Charlie Peace, performers in a blue exterior landscape
Charlie Peace, the complete projected theatre facade
Pl. 07 Charlie Peace, the complete projected theatre facade
Credits
  • Projection designer
    Will Simpson
  • Writer
    Michael Eaton
  • Director
  • Designer
    Barney George
  • Illustration
  • Composer and musical director
  • Charlie Peace
    Peter Duncan
  • Showman
    Norman Pace
  • Hannah Peace / Ma Adamson
    Mia Soteriou
  • Katherine / Susan
    Bridie Higson
  • Co-production
    Nottingham Playhouse and Belgrade Theatre, Coventry