THE SUGAR WITCH

Rareworks Theatre Company (Emerson College), November 2011

director: Srda Vasiljevic

associate scenic designer: Christopher Kavanah

costume designer: Eric Maxwell

lighting designer: David Sopshin

 

The Sugar Witch is a play in the Southern Gothic style about family, secrets, religion, and the supernatural. Capturing the ominous sense of decay around the Bean house was essential to assist in telling this story to the audience. Placing the show in an abstract space allowed both the actors and the audience to have a closer relationship with the dark and frightening moods at the heart of the play. This was accomplished through the use of fabric, which allowed the creation of structures that were recognizable as buildings while remaining strange and unfamiliar. The dichotomy between the rough, natural burlap and the soft, flowing chiffon added to the sense of decay, as did furniture choices. Strips of shredded fabric were suspended from above to continue to emphasize the major mood of the play. It was very important to make the audience feel as if they were intruding on the events of the play. By surrounding them with fabric and placing them in the middle of the swamp, they were made into voyeurs watching the drama at the Bean house play out in front of them.

 

The scenic design for this production was nominated for an EVVY Award for Outstanding Scenic Design at the 31st Annual EVVY Awards, held in May 2012.

 

all photos credited to Jacqueline Ziegler and Emma MacDonald