Ground Zero

When the twin towers came down in New York, I was working with The Wooster Group.  I remember the eery silence the day after and the pall of yellowish smoke that hung south of Canal St.  And everything was covered with a fine layer of gritty ash.
The play I'm working on at the moment (Griswold - Loose End, Civic Theatre Tallaght) is a black comedy set 4 months after 9/11, so I'm really enjoying the experience of designing for something I remember myself.  As a starting point, I revisited  some of the images of Ground Zero; they look like stage sets in themselves.
The Focus Theatre has had to leave its venue in Pembroke Place, so the detritus of ages was removed from the attic and found it's way back onto a stage.  I also cannibalised the old set from Hen Night for the structure.  It looks like chaos but it is actually tourable. 
I've had fun with lighting with this set design, and I've enjoyed working with Colm Maher from Bewleys.  He's created a lovely lighting design, unfortunately difficult to capture on camera.  You'll have to see it in real life. 

Set in progress

The show previews on Tuesday 12th June and opens on Wednesday 13th, at the Loose End, Civic Theatre Tallaght.  In July, it will transfer to the New Theatre, Temple Bar.

Going Dark at Young Vic, London

I'm glad to see that Going Dark by Hattie Naylor and Sound & Fury will be returning to The Young Vic in December.  This is a wonderful moving play, and a piece of work truly integrated together- the production is a collaboration between the Hattie Naylor's text and the visual & sound design from Sound & Fury.  It is all brought to life by a beautiful performance by John Mackay. Watch the trailer, or visit http://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/going-dark

Reviewers..

 Why do so few critics ever mention the set of a show?  Is it that they are for the most part trained as literary/drama critics and feel out of their depth when dealing with the visiual elements of a play?   Or do they simply not notice?  Here's the only one, out of all the reviews, that mentions the set of Hen Night.

Irish Theatre Magazine

Sonia Haccius’ set allows the cast use it as a proverbial closet in which to hide their respective skeletons. Dominated by a painted landscape scene that provides a backdrop so idyllic that it conjures up memories of The Quiet Man, the greenery is interrupted by a dingy hallway with greying wallpaper that allows the women to disappear off to make tea and fetch sandwiches at alternate times, allowing for secretive whisperings and interrupted conversations. A single bulb dangles from the ceiling of the hallway, lighting various paraphernalia that have been left behind by the house’s previous owners: a barbeque, a mattress, a child’s tricycle.

by Sheena Madden Reviewed 19 September