Robert Cohen - Theatre, Brief Version-McGraw-Hill Education (2016)

Theatre 105
7. Pask’s setting and costume design for
Martin McDonough’s grim 2010 Behanding
in Spokane, about a man (played
here by Christopher Walken) who is
still searching for his left hand that was
amputated 47 years ago, captures the
pathos of the main character’s life and
environment, exemplified by the brightness
of the light behind him—which
might be seen as the promise of his longlost
youth. Zoe Kazan plays a con artist
who pretends to know where his hand is.
© Sara Krulwich/The New York Times/Redux
and money for. But that taught us
a lesson about scale; Hair has an
energy that wants to come into the
audience, and when we came back
to the Delacorte for a full production
the following year, we wanted to
embrace the expanse of it, while
making the production feel intimate.
So I created a semicircular wall
nearly midway on the expansive
stage that reflected the architecture
of the theater. It became something
the “Tribe” [the group of 1960s
hippies that comprise the cast]
climbed over to invade the space,
make it theirs, and thus begin their
evening. I wanted to have nature
as close as possible, so we did
tons of planting right behind that
constructed wall, to match the
existing architecture of the theater.
People walked in and said, “They’re
using the Delacorte without a set?”
Many had no idea that our wall
was built and distressed to match
the existing wooden texture, color,
and age [of the theatre], and that
there were trees brought in and
grass—and that’s what it should
be: an authenticity of space and a
complicity of gesture, an architectural
intervention by which the Tribe came
in, invaded the space, and put on
their show. Because it had been such
a success in the Park, moving into a
Broadway theatre that fall created
a real challenge. The one thing I
had on my side was that energy can
be more easily contained onstage
indoors, where the play’s optimism
and hope and excitement can come
right at you. Indoors, people are
looking up at the stage rather than
down onto an amphitheater, and
so the wall motif—the architectural
intervention—is very important.
Indeed, it’s the statement of the
show. So the Tribe came in and
threw their rugs down and painted
something on the wall and called it
their space, claimed it as their own.
And by the end, when sunlight and
the mural’s color has completely
faded, and there’s snow and they
all put coats on, the optimistic
commentary has gone away and is
replaced by a plea for “let the sun
shine in—Please!” I feel that true
art can come from a place of upset,
from people trying to find their way
in the world, and from the “what’snext”
of things, so the wall became a
character of its own.
RC: So your design is more about
narrative and ideas than about
decor?
SP: For me decorative is a bad word.
I’ll even look at something of my
own work mid-process and think—
is that just decorative?—What is it
trying to say? What is it doing?
You can create the realistic elements
that are there, but how do you make
it theatrical? How do you address the
space where we watch the action? In
whatever era the play takes place, we
all know we’re watching it today; that’s
the main thing. That’s something I
obsess about. Keeping the theatre
that I help to create as contemporary
and progressive as I can.
RC: Do you have any advice to young
potential designers?
SP: I began as an artist and I think
art classes are always going to
be useful—any class that has
you manipulating materials and
paint. I also think it’s important to
develop your visual acuity, to go see
exhibitions, to pick up on what art
things are happening, to visit cities,
travel, find spaces that are inspiring.
Go to Washington, D.C., and see the
Capitol and the museums. Go to any
major city and seek out their museums
and cultural institutions. There are
amazing things at our fingertips
useful toward understanding visual
perception and space.
But basically, I think design is intuitive.
It’s about your gut. Intuit as much as you
can. Be sensitive to the things around
you—and to yourself, and especially
to how it relates to the piece you are
working on. Listen to what your mind or
instincts are telling you.