Photo of Derren Brown's Svengali Stage -- Robot/Automaton Theme

A flickr user has helpfully posted a photograph of the stage at Derren Brown's Svengali stage show. The picture (apparently taken pre-show, judging from the sparse, attentive, and seated audience) shows a blue-lit stage with three tables spread across it. Each table appears to have a covered object on it.

The decor of the stage (i.e., edges and top) has a robot/automaton theme, which is appropriate because Svengali is apparently a mind-reading robot/automaton of some type. The photo (according to flickr) was taken March 18, 2011.

Why Svengali? Deciphering the name of Derren Brown's new stage show

Derren Brown is calling his new stage show "Svengali." So what does Svengali mean?

Svengali is the name of the hypnotist character in George du Maurier's novel "Trilby," which was published in 1894. Svenali created the pop-culture stereotype of an evil hypnotist who controls a vulnerable woman (in the case of the novel, a singer named Trilby).

In the past, Derren has avoided stereotypes about hypnotists and magicians, but this time he apparently is taking them head-on. As noted previously, the Svengali trick itself involves an automaton, apparently named Svengali.