Patrick M. Strain Scenic

SCENE DESIGNS:

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Music by Tom Kitt
Book/Lyrics by Brian Yorkey

Page Theatre
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Winona, MN
February 2017
Lighting Design by Andrew Becker (student designer)
Costume Design by Caitlin Quinn
Directed (acting and music) by Judy Myers

Briefly about the design approach: Judy Myers wanted to capture both the concert-esque nature of the piece and also root it in the Goodman home. I started with various platforms, each one providing a home base for one of the characters (save the doctor whose area was on the stage floor). My visual exploration of Diana's mental illnesses brought be to M. C. Escher and it seemed to be that his use of neverending staircases provided an apt metaphor for Diana's (and all the characters') predicament. Thus the stair motif. There are stairs leading to nowhere under the platforms and had I more budget and time I would have loved having more stairs, upside down going in all directions... perhaps that would have been too much, though. I urged our student lighting designer to create as much duplication of the house backdrop on the cyc through lighting as possible, and he found some great moments to do that, as well as use the house in silhouette. Perhaps best seen the "The Light" and "How Could I Ever Forget" photos below, the windows played a symbolic role as well, the upper, lone window (accessed via a stairway to heaven as it were) to represent Gabe. The two windows essentially hidden behind the platforming of the "house" to be Dan and Natalie, then Diana's window on the opposite side of the door. She was silhouetted by this window while accessing the medicine cabinet down-left.

Everything Else, heading into My Psychopharmacologist and I

I am the One; Gabe at his regular platform overlooking the house.

Light
The Light

Hey #3/Perfect for You
Perfect for You; the house being masked by additional stair-like lighting elements.

How Could I Ever Forget?
How Could I Ever Forget; Diana poignantly below an empty window, holding Gabe's music box.

The Skin of Our Teeth
by Thornton Wilder

Page Theatre
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Winona, MN
November 2016
Lighting Design by Jason Underferth
Costume Design by Lolly Foy
Directed by Dr. Jimmy Bickerstaff

A brief overview of the approach: Dr. Bickerstaff's concept included setting Act 1 in 1942 (the year the show was written), Act 2 in 1984 and Act 3 in 2020. Though not terribly overt, it did help choose some of the architectural choices. Since we wanted to accentuate the self-consciously presentational approach of the show, we decided to create a stage within the stage for the house and then be able to modify that stage for Act 2. With the presidential race well under way (though we opened before election day), and the knowledge that Trump Plaza opened in 1984, I took perhaps too much delight in including that, with a slight paint effect to make the sign read "RUMP PLA" - perhaps as much a jab at our political environment as the nature of Act 2. (I had hoped to be able to do that in with lighting, but time and budget would not allow, alas.) The triangle of the roof and one wall section provided the oddity to act 1 (and disjointed nature of Act 3). Other than that, I tried to stay out of the play's way.

Act 1
Act 1 - 1942; as the roof "slips" to garner Sabina's attention.

Act 1 Ice Age
End of Act 1 - the Ice Age.

Act 2
Act 2 - on the Boardwalk - 1984.

Act 2 End
End of Act 2; the Fortune Teller urges George to think of a new world to make.

Act 3
Act 3 - 2020; the new world George and Henry made.

PLAYWRIGHT WORK:

stained glass

FINALIST at the
Grace InFused Theatre Festival

Columbus Performing Arts Center
Columbus, OH
Aug. 2016
Scenic and Lighting Design by Patrick M. Strain
Costume Design by Motley

This is my most recent playwrighting/directing/self-produced adventure and represents my heart for the kind of theatre I want to be about - good (if I can be so bold) Christian theatre.

Photos here are from our participation in the Grace InFused Theatre Festival in Columbus, OH (this was their inaugural year). The scenery was designed to be a traveling set and the lighting was limited to the CPAC rep plot, so the technical aspects are limited. The photographs were caught on the fly as well.

Play Summary: stained glass
Time and Setting: 2010, Northfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
Roles: 5 women and 4 men.
Genre: Drama

First Lutheran Church is in the midst of a building project and they cannot agree on what should be done with the church’s stained glass windows, some of which are in pretty bad shape. Charlene “Charlie” Romano, general contractor and friend of church council president Conway Harding, squares off against Rich Saunders, First Lutheran’s Youth Director and worship leader, supported by Sophia Lumens, a stained glass consultant. Caught in the crossfire is the newly called Pastor Rachel Paulsen. Charlie believes that the whole building complex should be brought down and the windows, which are expensive, hard to maintain elements of a bygone era, be sacrificed. Sophia is passionate that the windows are the sublime work of a master artist that needs to be preserved. As if this wouldn’t be enough to cause factions, Charlie, emboldened by her view that the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America – the liberal one, for you non-Lutherans) is sympathetic to gay marriage, seeks to wed her partner, Naomi Stone, at First Lutheran. Is tradition standing in the way of progress and can Pastor Rachel keep this powder keg from igniting? stained glass offers a view of mainstream America set squarely in the intersection of religion and sexuality.

READ THE PLAY.

Prelude
Prelude
(Pastor Rachel, Conway, Charlie, Naomi, Sophia, Kurt, Susannah, Rich)

Act 1-Scene 1
Act I, Scene 1
(Pastor Rachel, Charlie, Alan and Sophia)
Alan Zastrow reflects on when he last saw Charlie... early '80s, he believes it was.

Act 1 - Scene 8
Act 1, Scene 8
(Sophia, Rich, Charlie, Pastor Rachel and Conway)
Rich is dismayed that the building plans Charlie is suggesting would not include a permanent cross in the sanctuary.

Act 2 - Scene 3
Act 2, Scene 3
(Pastor Rachel, Charlie)
Charlie lays into Pastor Rachel for refusing to perform a blessing ceremony for her and her partner.

Act 2-Scene 8
Act 2, Scene 8
(Sophia, Rich, Pastor Rachel, Conway, Charlie, Naomi (blue), Susannah (back), Kurt)
Rich realizes that Jesus would have been present in the gay community... but not the way Charlie thinks.

Postlude
(Naomi, Pastor Rachel, (a bit of) Sophia, Alan, Kurt)
After Pastor Rachel is killed (not a spoiler, you'll learn that in the prelude), Alan summarizes the impact it has on each character.