Ava: The Secret Conversations
A visually striking and enigmatic affair
Riverside Studios
Hammersmith
Based on the book “The Secret Conversations” by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner.
A fading star of Hollywood’s golden age, now living a quiet life in 1980s London, hires a journalist to write her biography in order to bring in much needed income. The journalist can’t believe his luck. From poor Southern farm girl to a powerful Hollywood goddess her story is pure celluloid. A devastating beauty whose hard drinking, hard loving lifestyle kept the gossip columnists busy as her movies thrilled the punters. The ultimate femme fatale – Ava Gardner
Not always intentionally, Ava spills the beans on her three husbands to often humorous affect: Mickey Rooney, a serial cheater so notorious that even his mother warned Gardner about him; bandleader Artie Shaw “a dominating son of a bitch – always putting me down” and Frank Sinatra.. “We were fighting all the time. Fighting and boozing. It was madness. But he was good in the feathers”. This compelling new play f explores the fractured relationship between the public and private lives of one of Hollywood’s great icons. 59 Productions has created set design inspired by cinematic techniques and tools, and video design that brings to life Ava’s memories as she reminisces across a lifetime of glamour and gossip.
Ava: The Secret Conversations is now on at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith until Saturday 16th April 2022.
Opening Date
25 January 2022
Closes
16 April 2022
The Design
Translating the story into narrative and spatial diagrams
Design inspired by cinema techniques and tools
Staging design
Video design
Construction
Production Photographs
Selected Reviews
‘Director Gaby Dellal has worked largely in film and, alongside projection specialists 59 Productions, has created a show that splices film and theatre together with finesse.’
‘The lustrous production from director Gaby Dellal also involves beautiful set design from 59 Productions…and visual archive projections of photos and Hollywood scenery conveying cinematic touches that transport us back to the era.’
CREDITS
Produced by
Karl Sydow
Directed by
Gaby Dellal
Adapted and written by
Elizabeth McGovern
Design
59 Productions
Costume
Fotini Dimou
Lighting Design
Elliot Griggs
Sound Design
Ella Wahlström
Movement Director
Gemma Payne
59 Team
Design Directors
Leo Warner & Ben Pearcy
Set Designer
Hannah Rozenberg
Video Designer
Matthew Taylor
Associate Set Designer
Scarlett Moloney
Assistant Video Designer
Felix Green
Animator
Edd Stockton
Video Line Producer
Kate Stanley
Production Video
Richard Wells
Producer
Anna Jones