Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2014 - 37

worked with him more than anyone else. His work attitude is
what she found appealing more than anything, because he was
a good collaborator and made sure he spoke with the other
designers about ideas on the show. Like Skelton, she admitted
that she had little tolerance for people who have no idea of
what they are doing when it comes to the script. She explains
the importance of assisting: "I find assisting more challenging
than design. When you assist, you have to think as the designer
thinks. I have worked with so many different designers who
think so many different ways that it's helped me quite a bit. Also,
as an assistant you have to be one step ahead of the designer,
which means you have to know their plot better than they do.
You really learn when you assist. You have ideas about what
should happen, and when you see the person you're assisting do something and it doesn't coincide with your idea but it
works, you realize that there are so many approaches. Assisting
really broadens you. I highly recommend any young designer to
assist. If you keep your mind open, you can really learn. I have
really been lucky with all the designers I've assisted."
By the time Shirley designed her first Broadway production, The River Niger, in 1973, she knew the ropes of
the business as well as many of the union electricians. The
NEC production of The River Niger, written by Joseph Walker and directed by Douglas Turner Ward, premiered at the
company's St. Marks Playhouse to rave reviews in 1972 and
moved to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre the following year.
When asked what it was like to design on Broadway, Shirley
said, "I was pinching myself!"
I asked Shirley about the difference between working on
Broadway versus Off: "On Broadway you have to have a union
card. You are working with people who have definite hours.
You have the pressure of getting the work done so you don't
cost the producer an arm and a leg because of the unions.
You have to work faster, and it would be nice if you could
work cleaner. You have to sit by and wait for an opportune
time to do the cleanup that you know has to be done... In
an Off Broadway situation you can go up the ladder and take
care of things, but in a Broadway situation you can't. It's a lot
of money involved."
"In another sense," she continued, "there is no big difference. If you are going to do a show and going to do it well,
you do the same thing if you have 75 units or if you have 175
units. Yes, you are concerned about the time. You figure out
your focus time for the number of the units. If you get behind
schedule, you better get yourself together.

Aesthetics and Process
Wrapping up one of our interviews in 2005, I asked Shirley
a series of questions about her style, approach to design,
working with the director, and some of her most memorable shows. She said, "As for a Shirley style, I don't know-I
hope not. I really don't have a style. I want to use whatever

summer

works for the show. For a realistic show, I like to work with
a palette that will give me white light-a complimentary
color palette."
On the issue of specific colors for various skin tones,
she indicated that she always works with a complimentary
color palette which works for any skin tone. She uses a palette that turns to white or a no color. She prefers Rosco colors and a few GAM. R80 (primary blue) or R79 (bright blue)
she prefers for downs. For front light, depending on the set,
she prefers a series of the Rosco lavenders such as R51, R53,
R54, and R55. She feels that these lavenders shift close to
white because of both their inherent cool and warm color.
She tends to use R52 (light lavender) more as a special. Another series of colors in her palette are R62 (booster blue),
R65 (daylight blue) with R33 (no color pink) or R333 (blush
pink) to mix to a white light. Where she has limited instruments she begins with the general areas first and then add
specials if they are allowed.
In her approach to working with directors, she admits
she has no one approach; it always depends on the director
and the show. "What I've found most helpful is to ask directors what they envision. And from that vision we go from there
and talk about it. I can say what things can be and if I think
it's right I'll do it. If I think their idea is wrong, I'll try to talk
them out of it. If they really insist on something, I'll do it and
let them decide. It will usually be a combination of what they
want and what I feel is best for the show."
I asked Shirley how she deals with directors who can't
communicate what they want. Does she take in sketches, photos, etc? "What I do is verbally tell them what I'd like to do. I
don't take anything in. As nice as directors are, many of them
don't see. Not really until they get into the space."
Shirley prefers to discuss her vision for each scene and
then engage in further discussion with the director. As a rule
she makes an audio recording of the first run-through, with
the actors' permissions, and listens to it while working out
her design on paper. Listening to the actors while she is drafting allows her to connect to the play.
"My most memorable show," Shirley says when asked,
"was Jazz Set by Ron Milner, which was also done at Henry
Street. It was such a sparse, interesting show. Woodie [King
Jr., director, and founder of the New Federal Theatre] took the
attributes of instruments that became people. It's a marvelous
show." Does she have a preference for musicals, dance, or
drama? "No, as long as I like the piece when I read it. It could
be a one person show, or whatever. I have no preference for
intimate versus large spaces. It really doesn't matter, although
I think some of the spaces are really too large for some of the
plays that they put into it. If the set fits the genre of the theatre,
I'm fine."
Shirley admits that since the 1980s she has focused more
on plays and less on dance. She had designed with Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theatre, Dianne McIntyre, Dance Theatre of

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Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2014

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