Costumes and Stage Design

In his preface to Amadeus Peter Shaffer puts great emphasis on historic costumes, i.e. Rococo costumes. This production does not have authentic Rococo costumes. Why?

Prodigies, talented and successful artists like Mozart, Salieri and others are timeless. There were, there are and there always will be the likes of them, independent of period or social class, and therefore our costumes are not purely Rococo as propagated by the author.

But there are nevertheless many allusions to Rococo style. Why not choose a purely modern costume-concept?

The characters in Amadeus are based on historical persons, they are not mere fantasy products and therefore the cuts of the costumes are historical and thus make the reference clear. However, they are defamiliarized by combining them with modern elements and the use of modern fabrics.

Some costumes stand out because of unusual fabrics or showy colours while others are very modest. What are the reasons for these differences?

The choice of fabrics and of decorative elements like frills and laces supports characterization. Mozart for example is very childish and is constantly vying for attention. His "opponent", Salieri, is the complete opposite, very austere, almost ascetic towards himself and his environment. So the details of costume are intended, apart from connecting history and modernity, to convey core-characteristics of the different roles.

The stage-design is rather minimalist, however, the picture-frames at the back attract attention. Are they meant to symbolize anything?

In his narrative, Salieri creates images of his life, his past, which then are animated by the action that takes place in them - living pictures, in a manner of speaking. The stage-design is meant to be flexible, a living room or drawing room in some scenes, on the other hand it is meant to symbolize the play's organization into several narrated and acted-in pictures. The transition between narrated and acted-in pictures is inconspicuous and so the picture-wall can be used both as a the wall of a room typical of the Rococo and as a structural element, for example for a change of place.