Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542693
6 2 P E R S P E C T I V E J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 6 As weeks went by and we visited house after house, it became clear to me that the best course of action was to build the Shakespeare house. The Tudor houses we visited were remote, which meant accommodating cast and crew. They were also protected, which meant we were unable to modify them in any way. The decision to build went back-and-forth and once it was made it was a very tight build schedule. It wasn't easy convincing a director who is allergic to artifice. There were very cold feet. Having walked through so many houses with Lukasz and Chloe, I had a clear sense of what the house needed to be. It needed a long corridor and dark corners. Death was lurking in those corners. It needed huge fireplaces and low ceilings, at times threatening to squash and suffocate the inhabitants. The A-frame room had to look like a nest. The house had to sustain itself throughout the film, only changing subtly. It remains immovable and stoic, unlike the inhabitants. Lukasz spent hours with me and our Art Directors sitting at a computer, looking at angles through lenses. Together, we crafted the set to give us what we needed. The proportions, the depth, the apertures. The builders, painters, plasterers and greens team A. HENLEY HOUSE. PLAN AND ELEVATIONS DRAWN BY EMILY NORRIS. B. HENLEY HOUSE EXTERIOR. SET PHOTO. C. HENLEY HOUSE INTERIOR. BUILT AT ELSTREE STUDIOS BACKLOT. SET PHOTO BY AGATA GRZYBOWSKA. D. ATTIC. BUILT AT ELSTREE STUDIOS. SET PHOTO. E. HENLEY HOUSE DINING ROOM. THIS WAS AN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR BUILD AT ELSTREE STUDIOS BACKLOT. SET PHOTO BY AGATA GRZYBOWSKA. F. & G. HOUSE INTERIOR. SET PHOTOS. H. DINING ROOM. PRODUCTION STILL. A B C D E