Set Drawings
Rough concept sketches for the three sets of the play.
The Apartment
Cary and Greg's living room. The walls are black fabric stretched drum-tight on battens and frames, so they read as solid matte black walls. Over the course of the play the battens track inward and the furniture is moved to the center of the room, closer and closer together — same walls, same furniture, nothing added. The space simply shrinks around them until it's claustrophobic, while the walls themselves stay taut.
Throughout
Walls track in — stage 1
The full room — walls still wide, furniture spread to the edges. The battens have just begun to track in.
Walls track in — stage 2
The same walls ride their tracks inward — nothing added — and the furniture migrates to the center, couches pulled in close around the TV.
Walls track in — stage 3
Final position — the room has shrunk to a tight box. Everything is huddled at center, nearly touching; claustrophobic.
The Wedding Reception
Played on the same stage — the apartment is never struck. One banquet table rolls in to center and a tight spotlight cone picks it out, while the fabric walls, couches and TV stay standing in the dark around it.
Act 2, Scene 1
The Fire Escape
Same stage again. The metal fire escape rolls in downstage under a narrow spot, a glass of wine on a step; the apartment remains behind it, swallowed in shadow.
Act 3, Scene 3
The Wall — Body Press
The one moment the walls give themselves away. A performer stands behind the taut fabric, pushes their face into the back of a porcelain mask mounted on the audience side, and presses their body against the wall — the audience sees the mask and the impression of a body trying to get through. Everywhere else, the fabric stays drum-tight.
Throughout
The Wall — Multiple Masks
When more than one body is behind the wall: three porcelain masks hung on the taut black walls around the center window — one above, one on each side — each a potential face waiting to be filled from behind. The walls are pulled slightly in, and under the dim apartment light the masks read as the only solid things in the dark.
Throughout