Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico (currently lives in Sunnyside, NY)
Education: MFA in Design for Stage and Film from NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Favorite Credits: Madama Butterfly produced by Opera de Puerto Rico, Fabuloso by John Kolvenbach, The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa in Bogotá, Colombia.
Why theater?: I’m fascinated by the “play” aspect of what we do. We create worlds for character to live in, we study what they do, where they come from, we make decisions on how they move, how they live. As a designer we paint the stage and tell stories. We belong to great stories each time we work on a play.
What is your role on Prospect?: Lighting Designer/ Producer
Tell us about Prospect: Prospect is a story about the search of truth, the search for identity.
What is inspiring your design of Prospect?:Prospect has some “magical” moments that transport the main character, Scout, into the past, into his inner soul, those are moments where he battles his demons. I’m focusing the lighting on Scout’s perspective, how he sees the world and what he doesn’t want to see. Images of traditional Mexican art are a great inspiration that informs Scout’s past.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I enjoy all kinds of theater and performance art. I particularly enjoy designing for Opera. The theatrical language of Opera is very unique and it presents its own unique challenges. I’m attracted to character driven stories, stories about the human condition, the complications of the human mind.
What makes a design “successful”?: A successful design starts with good collaboration amongst the creative team. The rehearsal process informs of adjustments that need to be made to the design, designers and directors need to be in constant communication and collaboration in order to serve the play in a cohesive way.
How do you approach your work individually and collaboratively?: I first do initial inspirational research after a detail analysis of the play. As soon as I meet with my collaborators, I study their research, I work on understanding where they are coming from, and start a dialogue where we will discover together the vocabulary of each particular work. All elements of design have to be in harmony with each other.
What is your favorite part about the collaboration process?: I love the discovery process. Finding out how we are going to tell the story, the defining of the space. The story telling.
If you could design any play or musical you’ve yet to design, what would it be?:Pericles by W. Shakespeare.
What’s up next?: In The Heights at Aurora Theatre, Atlanta.
Boundless Theatre Company will present the New York Premiere of Octavio Solis’ PROSPECT, directed by Elena Araoz at Teatro Circulo (64 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and Bowery), May 19-June 5. Tickets ($18) are available online at www.boundlesstheatre.org