Signature Theater
Written by Heather Christian
Directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant
Scenic Design by Emmie Finckel
Costume Design by Brenda Abbandandolo
Lighting Design by Masha Tsimring
Sound Design by Nick Kourtides
Prop Design by Rachel M.F. Kenner
Associate Scenic Design by Silin Chen
“Here, Oliphant puts audience on both sides of the performance (the mirror effect of traverse staging always induces self-reflection) and, along with scenic designer Emmie Finckel, absolutely soaks the room in atmosphere. A collection of carpets and mossy greenery covers the floor, sprouting beds of paper flowers with sparkling gem centers; teetering wooden shelves are stacked with knickknacks — candles and reliquaries, an old plastic light-up Nativity, teacups delicately suspended from fishing line, a canvas sail tied up with rope to a wooden yardarm. Lengths of green chain drip over the balconies like hungry vines, evoking the kudzu that’s swallowing H’s hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, where the bluffs have been slowly but surely eroding for hundreds of years and “houses just straight up fall into the river.” - Sara Holdren, Vulture
“The natural and spiritual realms are intertwined, and set designer Emmie Finckel takes that assignment seriously with a stage full of plant life while nooks and crannies cradle altars for the dead (Masha Tsimring’s lighting similarly fluctuates from earthy to spectral).” - Hayley Levitt, Theatermania
“The production’s visual world, designed with intoxicating intricacy by Emmie Finckel, resembles the inside of a memory in the process of decaying and flowering simultaneously. The stage overflows with devotional clutter: votive shrines, fishnet vines, antique tchotchkes, collapsing domestic relics, strands of trembling lights, fragments of gardens both living and dead. Every corner appears inhabited by history. The environment does not merely decorate H’s psyche; it externalizes it. Meanwhile, Masha Tsimring’s miraculous lighting transforms the room from humid Southern dusk to supernatural visitation with almost imperceptible fluidity. At moments, the theater glows as though lit from within by memory itself.” - Tony Marinelli, Theaterscene.net
Photo: HanJie Chow
Photo: Ben Arons
Photo: Emmie Finckel
Photo: Ben Arons
Photo: Ben Arons
Photo: HanJie Chow
Photo: HanJie Chow
Photo: HanJie Chow