• Agency Reception Area with a desk and chair, coat rack, and filing cabinet. • Pinkerton’s Office with a small table for the brandy or a desk. • Department of Disguisement with a couple racks of clothing, a sign, and a curtained changing area. • Kitty’s Apartment with a desk and chair, clock-shaped torture table, and a window frame that actors can climb in and out of. • The City Streets can be created with evocative lighting and a trash can or two. In Scene 1 there is also a rope hanging from above that Nick climbs down. Note that within The Agency, there are three main settings: Sympathy’s Reception Area, which is adjacent to Pinkerton’s Private Of¬fice, and the Department of Disguisement. We also briefly see other departments of the Agency (Cryptology, Weapons Testing, Gadgets) during the song “Super Secret Agent” in Scene 3; these can be indi¬cated with signs and perhaps a chair or two. It is possible, in both acts, to eliminate the need for physical doors as part of the set. Alternate solutions are a welcome option, such as cutting Henry’s kicking down a door in Scene 10. And, at the end of Scene 3, Sympathy could use a different eavesdropping device, such as a design like a stethoscope or two tin cans connected by a string, which she can mime putting against the imaginary door to Pinkerton’s office. At the very beginning of the show, Nick could en¬ter in an alternate way if rope climbing is not possible—for example, he could enter through a trapdoor or through a cutout in a flat that looks like a brick wall, swing down a fireman’s pole, or make a fly¬ing leap from an offstage ladder. Finally, there are a few scenes in Act I that briefly show us a char¬acter in action in another setting: Oscill at a press conference, Tick Tock and later Oscill in Oscill’s office, Tick Tock in his lab, Kitty and Tick Tock at their evil lair, the President in the Oval Office. These can be accomplished as follows: • Oscillex Press Conference with a podium or spotlight. • Oscill’s Office with a file cabinet or desk. • Tick Tock’s Lab with a small lab station (small table with various watch-making and explosives props). • Kitty’s Lair with chairs, preferably throne-like, for Kitty and Tick Tock to sit in. Kitty’s throne may have wide armrests that include control panels. • The Oval Office with a Presidential Seal behind the president. Scenic World: Act II • The world of the show shifts in Act II, where the bulk of the ac¬tion takes place at Kitty’s compound in Pestilential Bay, Long Island, in an old meat factory. Much like The Agency, Pestilential Bay has three main areas where the action unfolds: the Grounds outside the compound; the Throne Room where Kitty presides and Tick Tock works to prepare the bomb and rocket for lift-off; and the Alcove of Death which is adjacent to the Throne Room. These settings may be indicated as follows: • Pestilential Bay Grounds with a few large rocks and shrubs or trees. • Throne Room with two chairs or thrones, a small table bearing a cage full of (stuffed) chinchillas, Tick Tock’s lab station table, and a rocket poised to launch—perhaps we see just the base of the rocket but it should still be recognizable. Late in Act II a small trolley is wheeled into this room. • Alcove of Death with a dungeon-like wall and a large on/off switch that controls the flow of toxic gas into the room. The Al-cove of Death is connected to the Throne Room by an (invisible) one-way window. • One number, “Think Fast” in Scene 3, has Sympathy and Henry making their way through the vast industrial areas of the rest of the compound. This number works well in an open playing space utiliz¬ing creative props (ropes, electrical tape, signs, hula hoops, etc.) carried by squadrons of S.C.R.A.T.C.H. Guards to dramatize the experi¬ence through movement. The Agency is represented in Act II with scenes in the Reception Area and Department of Disguisement. • The final scene takes place in a Hotel Lobby in New Zealand. This may be indicated with a desk and a few chairs and perhaps a floral arrangement or potted plant.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODU3MzQ=