Title Marie Henderson’s Mind
Duration 00:02:11
Date 2017
Audio Many thanks to LAURENCE LYSERGIDE for the soundtrack
Marie Henderson’s Mind 2017 is a 3d animated video that created for a theatre production held at the Coronet, Elephant and Castle, London – Entitled The Melodramatic Elephant in the Haunted Castle– A one-off production 8 November 2017, Coronet, 28 New Kent Road, SE1 6TJ London, United Kingdom, directed by C. Gras & J. Whelan.
The play was performed at the Coronet on 8 November 2017 and told the story of the building through the perspective of a Victorian actress, Marie Henderson, who ran the theatre from 1875-1880. The ghost of Marie Henderson was said to have haunted the Coronet depicted in scenes that recall the building as both a cinema and a night club. A cast of 19 actors from the People’s Company based at Southwark Playhouse were directed by John Whelan.
The Coronet is due to be demolished in 2019 as part of the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre redevelopment. Its final event will be on New Year’s Eve 2017.
Process – I based the 3d model upon a collage of different maps and plans of the Coronet through the ages. Then textured surfaces using a wide variety of visual fragments such as;
Contemporary photos of the Coronet interior;
Artist Constantine Gras’ drawings;
Borrowed Internet images of Bedlam & Hogarth’s ‘Rake’s Progress’;
Archive portraits of Victorian actress/ manager of the Coronet, Marie Henderson and historical plans of the Coronet site.
Dynamic 3D architectural structures were chosen to evoke a sense of the many layers of history embedded within the Coronet. Whilst the title Marie Henderson’s Mind reflects upon the tragic event of Marie being cast into notorious Bedlam Asylum due to Syphilis, which was common at the time.
More information about the project on Constantine Gras’ website