Diary: The Emperor's New Clothes

Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes is the story of a vain ruler who thinks highly of his own appearance and spends vast sums on clothes. Two conmen arrive and pull the breathtakingly simple trick of claiming to weave the world’s most exclusive and beautiful fabric from which they can make – at a price – appropriately exquisite clothes which can only be seen by wise people. The Emperor hears of their arrival and sends members of his staff to investigate. However, when they encounter the con men (who are only pretending to weave cloth), they lack the courage to say what it is they see (nothing) for fear of appearing stupid. And so they are drawn into the deceit because of their own weakness and inability to tell the truth to their boss, the Emperor. Inevitably he too becomes embroiled in this elaborate scam when he meets the con men and, like his underlings, cannot bring himself to tell the truth for fear of losing face and appearing stupid. So finally he goes ahead with an elaborate charade and is “dressed” in his new but non-existent clothes and sets off in procession to appear before the citizens – all of whom appear to admire his splendid appearance. Except for one, a small child, who looks and then shouts out the truth: the Emperor has no clothes, he is naked!

In rehearsing the story, the two actors playing the conmen (Bill Nash and Vineeta Ramm) have to find a way to appear as if they really are cutting and sewing material; unless they can, the credibility of the story will be undermined. In the story, people are duped largely because the tricksters perform the actions associated with their supposed trade as tailors so convincingly, making them believe that actual cloth is being woven and stitched. Vineeta and Bill have to do the same: to convince those on stage and in the audience that they are measuring, cutting and sewing the “cloth” and before presenting it “light as gossamer” to the Emperor and dressing him in it. The charade is helped by the fact that they use real tools, like tailors’ scissors, as they work, but cutting through thin air and making it look as if heavy fabric is being shaped requires skilled mime based on close observation. Perfecting this aspect of the performance means highly detailed and repetitive rehearsing, involving time, patience and skill. On stage it will look easy and convincing – one of the paradoxes of performance.

When the Emperor is dressed in his "new clothes," the Director wants his naked body to be partially concealed from the audience. This necessitates the choreographing of an elaborate series of movements involving most of the cast. When Jack Tarlton (who plays the Emperor) stands naked, his private parts are covered by various objects including a newspaper, a flag, a clipboard, and a bunch of flowers thrown from the audience. The whole procedure is designed as a game with the audience: will they get to see all of Jack, or will his colleagues succeed in preserving his modesty? To work, it has to be timed perfectly. In performance he really will be naked, and this gives an added frisson to the drama.