Playing with Scale: How Designers Use Scale Models

Interesting exhibition at the National Theatre looking at how scale models are used for set design.

It showed how models had been used in theatre since Ancient Greece and how the standard scale is now 1:25 as it is difficult to incorporate detail in anything smaller. I loved a big display of pencils of different sizes to illustrate what scale means.

It then went on to look at six productions in the Olivier starting with the 1977 production of “The Plough and the Stars” to show how scale models had been used in practice. It featured a lot of work by Jocelyn Herbert and included a recreation of her studio with an interview with her from the archive playing on a telephone.

Each show featured the scale model used and archive material to describe the design process. It was nice to see show’s I’d seen features such as the recent “Anthony and Cleopatra” and the “Comedy of Errors” from 2011. 

The display also discussed how the models are used from being in the room during rehearsals so the actors can refer back to what the set will look like to now being used by the digital team to build a virtual version of the set which they can place in the virtual theatre spaces to check fit, lighting and sight lines.