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.