The architecture, shapes and colours of wickedness

You can read the full article in Domus March 2018 issue.

“Look away, look away – the show will wreck your evening, your whole life and your day.” These lyrics are (literally) the opening chord to an airtight theatrical amalgam of a dark industrial, self-conscious British fairy tale. In other words, it’s the opening theme song for a children’s TV show on Netflix title A Series of Unfortunate Events. This series follows the tragic tale of three orphans who are lumbered with an evil guardian named Count Olaf (portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris). Count Olaf is a villain by nature and bad actor by profession. He uses his dubious talent to disguise himself as different characters.

Count Olaf’s lack of talent is expressed through Patrick Harris’s eloquent gestures and comic timing. Harris doesn’t act as a count named Olaf, but performs the cultural role of a villain, in a goth interior of high ceilings and pointed arches, decorated with spider webs and reptiles. Under different costumes and heavy make-up, Harris brings to life different comic characters that blend perfectly with the set designs. They are distinguished from one another but translucent enough to reveal their operator – Count Olaf – “the bad actor”. (...)