Click here for WE tickets. Performances October 11 - 20, Brooklyn, NY.
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During summer rehearsals for the adaptation of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel WE that I’m directing, I had the good fortune of designers coming to rehearsals to work with me and the actors.
When designers came, it was typically one at a time. The costume designer visited to develop and fit the “One State” uniforms, the projection designer observed the creation of the play and took video, and our shadow puppet director and designer came to work with the actors on puppeteering their own shadows.
As we enter the final weeks before technical rehearsals begin, it’s been thrilling to have more than one designer in the room at a time collaborating. Last Saturday, we had three at once!
As seen in the video above, this production combines shadow puppetry with filmed video projections of human silhouettes and various objects. Shadow puppetry is an ancient and very low-tech, yet expressive art form while video project is relatively new and has multiple modes of expression.
During last weekend’s rehearsals, the actors and our shadow puppet director and designer performed several shadow sequences for our projection designer to film in order to digitally enhanced the shadows which will be projected in large-scale format in the theater. I’m excited to see how the live shadows and projected shadows dance together in the theater.
Speaking of dancing, as I watched this video, I was astounded by the choreography the actors have mastered, not just in the movement of their bodies, but also in the way they pick up and put down each object they puppeteer!
You can also see some clips of the actors wearing the final costume design of the “One State” uniform. They are in costume because when we filmed their silhouettes, we wanted the silhouettes to match what they will wear during the show.
Finally, the music in the video was created for this production by our sound designer. It was inspired by the original music created for the show by our composer.
I hope this short update gives you an enticing look behind-the-scenes. There’s two weekends of rehearsal left before technical rehearsals start on October 2nd. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes, and I look forward to meeting you at the theater!
Click here for WE tickets. Performances October 11 - 20, Brooklyn, NY.
WE is made possible by grant funding from the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) in the Arts, the Puffin Foundation Ltd., and NYSCA-A.R.T./New York Creative Opportunity Fund (A Statewide Theatre Regrant Program). Production design support provided by the Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Design Enhancement Fund, a program of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York).
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