Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2018 - Public - 28

WSD17
Agata Skwarczyńska |

The Leper. A Melodrama

Various forms that exist in the environment are very inspiring as they form the
natural background of human life. They include unusual landscape structures, rocks
and soil sealed up in time and hardened in
shape. Agata Skwarczyńska is fascinated
by a Romantic vision of nature as a wild,
uncontrollable, and sensitive creature.
These violent emotional states may also
be traced in the landscape formation.
In almost all of her projects, a recurrent
theme of space responding to a situation
with its own emotions and psyche can be
traced. The space moves violently, rises
up, fluctuates and vibrates-it appears
as a dangerous and uncontrollable force
similar to an element.
A gigantic mirror placed above the
scene plays the same role. It moves unexpectedly and descends dangerously close
to the actors, almost crashing them like a
history crashes singular life. A disturbing
effect is intensified by a specially designed
pattern of the floor based on optical illusions. In the final scene, the floor cracks up

Lacey Erb |

Photo by Magda Hueckel

and rises up, a complicated mechanism of
hydraulic engine used. The pattern of the
cyclorama, which consists of about 11,000
modules of specially designed rhombus,
makes an impression of a three-dimensional structure parallel to a relief. The costumes were very carefully designed with all
the meticulous details of this époque.
Agata Skwarczyńska has created stage
designs for companies in Poland and Europe, including many collaborations with

They Have Big Voices Where the Universe Ends

Photo by Yi-Tai Chung

"They Have Big Voices Where the Universe Ends is a collective conversation,
a dialogue, a confrontation, a comforting silence. The performers are actively
listening, both inwardly and outwardly,
expressing ideas and sensations, alternately subtly and obviously, in an effort

28 |

Wojciech Faruga, the 21 Theatre, and other
artists. In 2008, she created the exhibition design for the Theatre during Martial
Law exhibition at the Theatre Institute in
Warsaw. Together with Ewa Machnio, she
curated and created the exhibition design
and concept for the 2011 Polish National
Exhibition on the Prague Quadrennial of
Performance Design and Space. In 2015,
she was awarded a Golden Mask prize for
the best set design for Queen Margot.

THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

SPRING 2018

to understand, to be heard, and to never
stop questioning," said choreographer
Erica Gionfriddo.
The projections and lighting asserted
another layer of communication wherein
each performer experiences both spatial
constriction and expansion. The audi-

ence's perception of the piece was guided, often times obscuring the stage and
the performers. Creating a piece where
light and projections participated in this
conversation of embodiment and expression, designer Lacey Erb and choreographer Erica Gionfriddo worked together to
involve the dancers in a dynamic, and intentional world, choreographing sections
of the media and movement together.
Lacey Erb is a projection and lighting
designer for performance, installation, and
events. Her recent work includes designs
with Meta Phys-Ed, The York Theatre,
Center for Performance Research, The
ZACH Theatre, The Butler Opera Center,
Dance Repertory Theatre, and UT Austin.
Erb recently finished her MFA at the University of Texas at Austin where her thesis
involving interactive movement performance was presented at South by South
West (SXSW) Interactive.

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