This series of events started a longer series of events that led to a life changing decision. I changed my major to theatre and jumped in headfirst. Having had little previous experience in theatre I spent the summer before as an intern at a small summer stock program in northern Michigan. I learned there that my experience in architecture was not going to be wasted and that the development processes I had already begun to perfect for architecture directly translate to stage design.
As a student in the School of Theatre and Film I pushed my way into experiences. I worked in the shop, took design classes, and was offered a mainstage show at the end of my first year.
Working in the shop for many semesters taught me a great deal about the process of creating a set. This isn’t architecture. There are safety concerns and basic rules, but, as I now explain to those who hear my story, scenic design is the same principles as architecture without restrictions. If it makes sense in the space and show, there are no neighbors to tell me it’s too tall, no government officials to say I can’t put that there, no regulations to say what the clearance must be. With a production team on board the imagination has no limits.
The classes I took and the other shows I worked on at ASU provided other necessary steps to get to this point. I took a wide variety of classes in order to better understand the art I do. I took sound, lighting, and costuming, amongst other classes to broaden my vocabulary and ability to collaborate. One memorable and influential moment was in Jake Pinholster’s fundamentals of design class. He assigned each of us a designer to study for a presentation in class. He assigned to me Edward Gordon Craig. I was instantly obsessed. Craig’s books contained so many things I had thought before and then moved the ideas forward in a way that seemed to remove years of process for my own aesthetic. I loved his enormous scale and his love for multiuse elements. I loved his theories and even his frustrations. Of all the influences in my work I will never be able to shake what I have learned from Edward Gordon Craig.
Designing for Dario Fo’s We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! Proved challenging but the experience was rewarding. The process was difficult but it taught me a lot. I learned that I needed to have patience and but also that there is only so much I can do. I learned the struggle of finishing the design before the process is complete, and I learned that the final product is the only thing that will be remembered. Most importantly I learned that there was joy in seeing a realized work illuminated on stage. It was the first show I had done of that scale, and I loved having what seemed like massive space. Having learned of this new love for large things I looked forward to the next major project I was assigned.