Finishing touches are being made to the stage, set and props for Timon of Athens as Kathryn Hunter prepares to take to the Swan stage on Friday in the role of Timon.

Talking about the design for the production, director Simon Godwin said: “We’re going to use a lot of gold.  The first half of the play is very much about excess, splendour, pleasure, decadence and excitement”.

To create this on stage, a key element of Soutra Gilmour’s design is a large cloth measuring 17m x 5m which has been decorated by our Scenic Art Department with 10,000 squares of schlag metal, an imitation gold leaf made from a brass alloy. At the start of the show, the cloth will hang from the back wall of the theatre and cover the floor, but the solid gold colour will start to break down as the show progresses. 

View the gallery below to see how the cloth was made and other props from Timon of Athens.