Blue Window

Blue Window by Craig Lucas, was my first realized scene design. This was a student directed piece, that presented many challenges. The show wasn’t picked until after the designs were supposed to be due, so the show was designed in a crunch. A second challenge that the director threw at me was that after the set drawings had been sent to the shop to get estimated approved, the director decided to change the orientation of the space from thrust to tennis court style seating, effectively doubling the scenic requirements.

As a design team we chose to create a look to the play that was very expressive of modern art. We perused gallery photos and artist’s pieces, but were eventually drawn to the work of Piet Mondrian, and his use of rectilinear lines and swatches of primary color. I used his style to create a cityscape with multiple large cream colored flats suspended on either side of the stage, with an open playing space in the center.

Some could say I also took the title of the play very literally, by hanging a series of windows with blue painted backgrounds, but I felt that the blue window was a metaphor for an escape, from the life that the characters were leading, as it is rare in New York City to see a blue sky out of ones window.