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JESSICA ELLIOTT // LIGHTING DESIGN
BURST
By: Amy Leigh Horan
Chelsea Theatre Works
December 2019
Direction: Adrienne Boris
Scenic: Ryan Bates
Costumes: Drew Myers-Regulinski
Sound: Jay Mobley
As their mother lies in a coma in the Neuro ICU after suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm, three siblings find a home in waiting room 3. With humor and heart, Burst explores the comedy and clarity of crisis and love.
Lighting Note: From the time each sibling entered the ICU it became a very personal journey. During a rehearsal, I asked each actor to provide adjectives about the overall feeling about their monologues aka time with mom. I then used their words and created a color scheme for their time in the ICU.
The children's feelings were harbored in the lightboxes, while the mother herself came alive in the light bulbs overhead. At the end of the piece, it was important to have "mom" ascend and break free. To achieve this release, I took the brightest lamps in the space (2 x 575w Source 4 caps) and with the help of a ministrip mom was no longer confined to the ICU.
Please click on image to expand
Photos: Amy Leigh Horan and Jessica Elliott
REVIEW SNIPPET
BOSTON STAGE NOTES | JAMES WILKINSON | DECEMBER 2019
[...] I don’t want to give the game away, but suffice to say that Bates and Elliott manage to create a space that’s more infused with the emotions of the characters. For them, speaking to their comatose mother is an unreal state, so when they do so, the space around them becomes a little unreal as well.
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