SCENIC
and LIGHTING DESIGN
Anne
Frank and Me
Zona
Gale
Theatre
Portage
Center for the Arts
Portage, WI
September 2006
Costume Design by Barb Church with Judy
Krueger
Directed by Dr. Xan S. Johnson
Nicole Burns and her dance team, "Sizzle," perform at a school dance.
Nicole wakes up after an accident to find that she is now a Jew in Nazi occupied France. Ala Wizard of Oz, she finds herself surrounded by people she recognizes, but in different roles. Her teacher is now her mother, her principal is now her father. Here she explains that she is "totally freakin' out."
Nicole and her father look out the attic window at the stars.
Anne Frank is pushed into the cattle car which Nicole has found herself.
The gas chamber, where Nicole finds herself comforting Anne Frank and her family.
The background
- an oversized prayer shawl with a pile of shoes.
A composite shot of the stage - note the far end murals (approx.
8'x12') are on the theatre walls and visible mostly in the peripheral
vision of the audience.
Production
Notes:
In approaching this script, Dr. Johnson and I both were inspired by the many shocking photographs and inspiring pieces of artwork that represent and evoke the events of Holocaust. The difficulty, in a distance, to discern between a pile of shoes and a pile of corpses was gut wrenching. The value that the Nazi's placed (and modern America places) on things over and above people evoked a state of mind that we felt was central to the issues of the script. This evolved into a background piece - an oversized prayer shawl with a pile of shoes. Another specific piece of art work that inspired this design is located at Dachau, Germany. A 3-D work of abstracted bones and barbed wire became the inspiration for the proscenium piece. These elements, alongside the posts (with bits of barbed wire) and the murals on the theatre walls, visually foreshadowed and overshadowed the entire play.
The script moves somewhat quickly over time and space. Modern bedrooms, classrooms and dance halls give way to various space in France, then to various locations on the road to Auschwitz. Since our Zona Gale Theatre has no wing or fly space, the transition from location to location needed to be done sparely and quickly. To that end, the furniture pieces were blocks/bench type construction, arranged and moved and often covered with various fabrics. The deck of the platform was also multipurpose. During the attic scene, a large section of the upstage floor lifted to become the back wall of the attic. In the boxcar scene, two sections of floor lifted to become the back wall of the boxcar. This, with the addition of select lighting specials, transported the audience fluidly from space to space, and time to time. I am somewhat boastful in the statement that transitions never waited on the scenery, even when going from modern America to Nazi occupied France.
Finally, the lighting...was, as must be done in small spaces with a fairly limited inventory of dimmers and instruments, a bit of a compromise. In general, the show moved from a full, warm light to a cooler, more shadowed light. I could easily have used a hundred more instruments and dimmers and not felt like I had overworked this show, as every scene could easily utilize a separate plot. The reality was, however, three multi-purpose areas (SL, the platform and SR). Each had 2 front lights, 2 side lights and a top light, so a fair amount of variety in intensity and angle was available. Beyond that, there were specials, barbed wire patterns and dump lights and low angle intense lights...and as is usually the case, the photos above demonstrate that a small handful of lights in a relatively contained amount of real estate produce the best results. A top light, a pattern and a bit of color to see faces...
Lastly, I wish that the computer renderings I have were worth your time, but they are not. Not because of limitations on VectorWork's part, but because Dr. Johnson and I are developing a shorthand, he prefers handmade models, I worked on a number sketches and the real conversation happened too close to construction to make it worth my time to expound on the design. Suffice it to say, this design was more a napkin sketch and two people trusting each other.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Portage Daily Register.
"Theater production is a wonderful event"
Last weekend I drove up from Madison with my teens to see the Zona Gale Youth Theatre's production of "Anne Frank and Me" at the Portage Center for the Arts. Now I have to admit, I was a little skeptical as to what we may encounter from this small-town theater, but knowing that Dr. Xan Johnson from the University of Utah had worked with these students during the summer and was directing it, I was curious to see the results.
We were pleased to find the Arts Center nestled into an old church, the theater being intimate and cozy. At first glance the set looked like my daughter's room on a Saturday morning, but upon more careful inspection this immediate modern day scene gave way to images of past horrors, truly paralleling the story line. The show does begin with a frivolity that speaks directly to young people, pulling them in with their language, music, dance and adolescent emotion. What follows is equally engaging, yet incredibly artistic, imaginative and profound. You feel the blow of human folly and the fresh ingenious way in which history unfolds at the hands of an incredible collaboration of young actors. A real marvel to the senses.
Let me just say this: If you don't go to see the show this weekend, you may never know what you missed. But, if by design or by accident you do find the time to attend, it may change your life, or at the very least reach a depth of feelings you may have not thought possible; making you a little more alive in the world. Isn't that what theatre is all about?
Sandra Fernanda, board president,
CTM Madison Family Theatre, Madison, WI
