Best stage effect?

Similarly themed, but the set reveal in Spirited Away and the puppetry in that is insane.

It has the great Les Mis "back wall of windows".

Its not as technical as some mentioned but i have always loved the transformation from foal joey to full size horse, the build of the music still brings hairs up.

Agreed. The theatre was reconfigured with the playing space in the centre of the auditorum, audience on three sides with a curtain at the back. We'd already seen 2.5 acts (including 2 intervals) where every prop was mimed and the only set was the odd plain chair or table. When the curtain drew back to reveal the most detailed and realistic kitchen set, actors in full costume, bacon frying on the stove I was flabbergasted (along with the whole audience).

I saw Groundhog Day both times at the Old Vic and agree the suicides tricked me every time. The addition in the recent revival of the one where you think you've seen him climb the ladder, and then is actually right at the front of the crowd at the bottom was a real "NO WAY!" moment.

Probably over 20 years ago but does anyone else remember Mourning Becomes Electra at the NT? It had a beautiful perspective set with a Stars and Stripes roof. The walls slid from side to side to take us in and out of the house which was pretty impressive in its own right. Then when it moved to the docks halfway through act two, the whole ceiling pivoted down and there was another set on top - I think that got a round of applause. The White Guard also in the Lyttelton with it's whole house disappearing upstage was another epic set change. I remember loving the original Mary Poppins dolls' house set too. And Bert dancing over the top of the proscenium upside down is a great "they really did that?!" moment.

Much simpler, but I saw Local Hero at the Minerva a couple of years ago. The first 10minutes was set in a shiny American office. When the action moved to rural coastal Scotland, the cast lifted up the shiny floors and removed them to reveal a sandy beach underneath and I remember it being really surprising and beautiful that that had been there all along without anyone in the audience realising. 

The tree appearing at the back towards the end of the first part of The Inheritance when they first visit the house was beautiful. And then what followed was so surprising and profoundly moving - a LOT of tears were shed.

I was FLOORED by the crazy amount of blood poured over various actors in Jamie Lloyd's production of "Urinetown", I don't know if it calmed down later in the run/transfer but I saw an early performance at the St. James (RIP) and they got DRENCHED

I enjoyed that the way they achieved this was literally just baking some Apple Pies FOH so simple but very effective.

How do you mean? I’m afraid I don’t remember that one too well myself.

ladidah Yes, the reveal of that absolutely massive Totoro was stunning.


I know people on here hated the show but I really enjoyed the ball scene in ALW’s Cinderella when the waltz started and the revolve kicked in so the front stalls switched places with the stage. It’s not like the NT’s endlessly reusable drum revolve, here it’s such a weirdly specific gimmick, and I don’t get why anyone would go to the expense of putting it into the fabric of the building. But I’m glad they did cause it was quite fun, but can’t imagine when it’s ever going to get used again.

David Essex's musical, Mutiny, saw the complex ship rise out of the floor with the sails and rigging coming down from the flies, then rotating andhaving one side drop down. very impressive but clearly they'd run out of money for tahiti which was a very dull cloth on an empty stage.

absolutemotioncontrol.com/2019/03/03/a-german-life/

Throughout the performance, the centre of the platform moves imperceptibly forward, leaving the walls behind to slowly separate, until by the end the table in the centre, and Brunhilde beside it, sit almost at the front of the stage.

Funny what we do and don’t remember. I keep reading about stage effects in Groundhog Day and I have zero memory 😹

Thanks for the reminder. I was sitting off to one of the sides and now you mention it I do remember her slowly drifting past. It’s interesting how something so deceptively simple is actually quite high tech.

Maybe I'm again showing my simple mind, but I was impressed with 'The Woman in Black'. By all means and purposes a very simple production, three hander, a lot of sheets, lights and shadows, but I was absolutely petrified!

In the Japanese production of Wildhorn's Dracula, the actress playing Dracula (who happens to be Wildhorn's wife) walks through a table. There are items on the table, which are moved around throughout the scene. The table is clearly solid, however, she walks right through it. She's wearing a long cape, so you only see that section of the table again once she's fully through it, but the fact that the objects are solid and moved around during the scene blows my mind. I genuinely cannot understand how it's done...

at least with other effects, you have an idea, even if you aren't 100% certain, but in this scene? Genuinely baffles me.




At 22:00. You can see the bottom of the table cloth literally not moving. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. 

I just remembered the marvellous bit of Terry Johnsons’Hysteria’ at the Royal Court where the stage turned into a Dali painting with melting clocks etc.