DESIGNER David M. Barber ON HIS CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR THE BLEEDING CLASS BY CHISA HUTCHINSON
This is the fourth time I have worked on a premiere of Chisa’s work, and I always open her scripts with an almost giddy sense of excitement – knowing that I will be on the edge of my seat as I read. Her ideas are large, unapologetically theatrical, courageous and seriously funny. After my first reading of The Bleeding Class, I was struck by Chisa’s overtly theatrical presentation of this material. This is a science fiction play (albeit too close to our current reality for comfort) punctuated by fantasy sequences and moments of heightened reality, with very large stakes at play in the narrative. The piece also has a cinematic flow – moving quickly through many locations.
My task was to match the quality of the text in the visuals and to provide an ever-changing malleable space that delivers the individual scenic looks in a variety of ways. The set would have two translucent portals that serve as projection surfaces while also providing a translucent filmy surround. Individual scenic looks would be created though a combination of tracking platforms, elevator traps in the Hubbard apron and flying units upstage of the portals. Everything is slightly visually heightened – given the choice to do a very realistic current day research lab or something large and gleaming and futuristic – a massive network of chrome shelves and glass flasks – we would definitely err on the side of the latter idea! The grid idea is reflective of the societal / economic / power structures at play in the world, while affording us a visual reference that easily translates to skyscrapers, glass windows and other architectural references that would be projected onto the portals to flesh out the individual scenic looks. The eerie blue/green palette came from microscopic images of virus cells.
I have this desire for the virus itself to factor prominently in the design. I talked to Chisa and Jade King Carroll, the reading director, about how viruses have a strange beauty to them as visual forms, and the virus in this story is not really the central antagonist. In a strange way, the virus (and Covid in our own world) are sort of transgressive “gifts”. They are, of course, devastating and horrific, but the play is reflective of how Covid is yet another event that has brought attention to the massive inequities in our world. And you clearly get the sense in this play that the massive extinction event the pharmaceutical company is about to launch will more than likely kills us off in disproportionate ways.
