Carnegie Mellon University School Of Drama
Director
Description:
Written by William Golding and adapted for the stage by Nigel Williams, the Carnegie Mellon University School Of Drama production was situated in a post-dramatic framework of narrative action (the play), mediated alienation (live video), and a poetic materiality (design). The play was performed by a company of 8 actors embracing a realistic acting method and played towards both the live audience and live video framing. The live video was used to highlight the muscular acting technique of the ensemble and the poetic approach of the design that embraced contemporary online “parentless islands” that teens survive in today. Dramaturgically, the live media and prerecorded projection reflected online spaces of social media and internet culture full of the harassment and bullying found in the script. The set design further accentuated and pointed at the materiality of youthful play in the performance. Ladders became mountains, tables stood in for huts, and potted plant morphed into the jungle. As the seriousness and consequences of the character’s actions take hold, the set and media were stripped until there were only the bodies of the survivors refracted and reflected through the remains of the disaster that had unfolded.
Images:
(Photography: Louis Stein, Dan Sakamoto, Keith Truax)