There’s this sort of inside joke among a few theatres in DC. It started at one theatre in particular but a few others, including the one I’m currently working at, have picked it up. There is a designer name that we throw in there when there’s a designed element that wasn’t done by a specific person. Which is to say, the director did the sound design, or the actors provided their own costumes, stuff like that. His name is Marcus Darnley. If you’re familiar with George Bernard Shaw’s play Heartbreak House, you might recognize Marcus Darnley as the name Hector Hushabye uses when he’s in disguise. The original company who first used him as a designer wrote a bio for him and everything, so now he gets passed around to fill in on any job as needed.
In my show, our scent design was a team effort. It was executed by props and lighting with scents chosen by the director and AD. So we credited Marcus Darnley as the scent designer and stuck his fake bio in the program.
A review just got published, and the entire first paragraph is all about the smells. “A delectable aroma wafts through the [theatre], the handiwork of Scent Designer Marcus Darnley.” 😂 😂 😂
