Once on This Island
Groton School 2011
Asen Theater
Scenic Design & Technical Direction
Collaboration with Student Engineering Class
Asen Theater
Scenic Design & Technical Direction
Collaboration with Student Engineering Class
One of the goals of the design was to use a minimal number of materials in construction of the scenery and props. Bamboo, raffia, and "junk on the floor of the shop" were the main components.
Collaboration with Student Engineering Class
The tree that grows out of the floor and is an important symbol in the show, was a project that was a collaboration with one of the engineering classes. The class broke into teams and came up with proposals as to how to have the tree grow out of the floor. We used one of the student designs in the show. The tree was a series of telescoping tubes that were lifted from a pick up point through a trap in the floor. For the past several years I have been working with faculty children over the age of eight, who are interested in helping out backstage. Projects vary from paint work to simple construction. They helped to build the tree, which the student engineers had determined should be made out of papier mache and cardboard. At the end of the show, we closed off the bottom of the tree and made it into a giant piñata that all of the techies from the little kids to the Groton students got to whack at.
The tree that grows out of the floor and is an important symbol in the show, was a project that was a collaboration with one of the engineering classes. The class broke into teams and came up with proposals as to how to have the tree grow out of the floor. We used one of the student designs in the show. The tree was a series of telescoping tubes that were lifted from a pick up point through a trap in the floor. For the past several years I have been working with faculty children over the age of eight, who are interested in helping out backstage. Projects vary from paint work to simple construction. They helped to build the tree, which the student engineers had determined should be made out of papier mache and cardboard. At the end of the show, we closed off the bottom of the tree and made it into a giant piñata that all of the techies from the little kids to the Groton students got to whack at.