Creating Lighting Designs

By Josh Epstein, lighting designer, Into the Woods and A Midsummer Nights Dream

Josh Epstein

Theater design of all types often begins by thinking about metaphors. As designers we try to get to the heart of what the playwright is saying and find a visual way to enhance or clarify that message. Sometimes it is about establishing a grounded, “real” place to set the play in and sometimes it is about creating an abstraction. When you are working on two plays at once there is an additional challenge of trying to find the commonalities between two completely separate works to create some sort of through-line between the two: from Shakespeare to Sondheim and back again. In the case of both of these plays the most obvious commonality is the woods. As a designer I have spent a lot of time thinking 

Working on the lighting for the Rep. Photo by Laura Pates.

about how these woods should feel for the actors and the audience. And in the end I came to the realization that it is less about literal trees and bushes and more about the idea of journey. And from a lighting point of view that meant finding a way to evolve the space and embrace the exploration without grounding the location too specifically. I have tried to create an environment where we can evolve from a starting point where there the lighting reveals everything and has a sense of solidity and architecture to a world that is full of shadow and texture. The characters adventure from what feels like a world with a clear and steady footing to a place that hides mysteries and the unknown and they emerge on the other side. I hope the audience joins them as they discover and relate to the journey for themselves.

Come see Into the Woods and A Midsummer Night's Dream at PlayMakers November 1 - December 7. For tickets, call 919.962.PLAY (7529) or visit our website.

Meet the Creatives: "Into the Woods"

If you have not heard, anything can happen in the woods. Magic, mischief and mayhem take over at PlayMakers during our 2014/15 Mainstage repertory shows, Into the Woods and A Midsummer Night's Dream. The first is the modern classic Into the Woods, from the mind of Stephen Sondheim. This whimsical tale weaves together classic fairy tales, with a twist, and garnered multiple Tony Awards.

Joe Haj

We have put together a fantastic creative team for our production of Into the Woods, to bring to life this fairytale world.

PlayMakers own Joe Haj will direct Into the Woods. Last season Joe co-directed both Metamorphoses and The Tempest, bringing these mythological and mystical tales to life for one of PlayMakers most memorable rotating repertory events ever. After all, who can forget the 4000 gallon pool built in the middle of the Paul Green Theatre! Joe will bring his considerable creative vision to Stephen Sondheim's beloved musical, and it’s sure to be an enchanting evening.

Marion Williams is returning to PlayMakers to bring some magic to the stage as the scenic designer for Into the Woods and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Marion is a longtime collaborator with PlayMakers. Her work was last here in 2013, when she brought to life the tantalizing world of The Kit Kat Klub for Cabaret. She has designed sets and costumes for a number of PlayMakers' past productions, and we are thrilled to have her back.

The costume designer for Into the Woods is Bill Brewer. This will be Bill's first time working with PlayMaker. Bill has designed for theatre, ballet, opera, film and television, both nationally and internationally. He is on the costume design faculty of the University of North Carolina School for the Arts. In addition to his numerous theatre and ballet projects, he has designed numerous projects for PBS and worked as an assistant designer for Lucas Film.

Josh Epstein is the lighting designer for Into the Woods. We last saw Josh's lighting design at PlayMakers in the 2013 production Cabaret. Josh designs lighting for theater, opera and dance as well as environmental and event spaces. Josh will be doing the lighting design for both of our rep shows this season, and we are looking forward to seeing his take on these productions.

If you are looking for the choreographer behind the fantastic cake walks of Assassins or the raucous dance numbers from Cabaret, then Casey Sams is your woman. She will be choreographing Into the Woods. Casey Sams is a resident artist at the Clarence Brown Theater, where she works as a director and choreographer. She is also head of undergraduate studies and an associate professor of theatre at University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Rounding out our creative team is puppet designer Donovan Zimmerman. Donovan is the co-founder of Paperhand Puppet Intervention. He brings his creations to life using cardboard, corn starch, bamboo, old house paints, and other assorted odds and ends. We are excited to have him as part of our Into the Woods creative team.

Into the Woods and A Midsummer Night's Dream will be performed in repertory at PlayMakers November 1 through December 7. Subscriptions for the 2014/2015 Mainstage Season are on sale now and single tickets will be available in July.