ANTLIA PNEUMATICA

Normandale Community College, February 2020

by Anne Washburn

Director Michael Hugh Torsch

Scenic Design Nicole DelPizzo

Lighting Design Jim Eischen

Costume Design Annie Cady

Sound Design Topher Pirkl

Photos: Jim Eischen and Nicole DelPizzo

Switching between dream and reality, Antlia Pneumatica is a story of reunion surrounding the death of a friend from long ago. My design is grounded in realism at the kitchen island, where the characters come together. With the audience so close (the furthest were 10’ from the stage), I wanted to heighten the texture of reality with real wood planking, beams, and counter.
Some scenes take place outside, in Texas Hill Country. I had a variety of tall grasses “growing” up through the floor boards to merge the indoor with the outdoor and take the audience away from reality later in the play.
Reality quickly dissolves as the play progresses and new design elements are revealed, first going to the outdoors for stargazing, and later beyond, into dreams. Several scenes are scripted to be in near-pitch-black, some suggest no actor be on stage at all. Together with the lighting designer, we integrated hidden lights between ceiling beams and floor boards which gently pulsed in a rhythm. These scenes, without the presence of an actor on stage became meditative, and helped the audience to enter a dream-like state of their own.