Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros is a play about holding onto humanity and a sense of self in the face of powerful forces. In this addition to the “Behind the Scenes” interview series, members of Tisch’s Drama Stage’s Rhinoceros Production & Design team explained their processes and what they gained from the experience. Watch below.
Photo by Justin Chauncey
We spoke with members of the student Production & Design team for Rhinoceros to gain insight into what motivated their work, how their experiences and mentors at Tisch support their processes, and what they’re taking away from the experience. Students Seo Yun (Costume Designer), Lily Barron (Sound Designer, Composer), Aryana Piros (Production Stage Manager) and Maddie Boland (Lighting Designer) shared their reflections with us.
Multiple student designers talked about the significance of dramaturgy, or contextual background research, in their designs.
Yun explained, “I tend to lean more heavily towards doing a lot of conceptual and theoretical research… Once I get past the stage of building a strong foundation for a theoretical and conceptual understanding of the show and the context, I move forward into a more visual world.” Likewise, Barron shared, “A lovely part of the process has been a focus on this big concept, and then seeing how it all comes together at the end of the day.”
Each of the students spoke about the influence that impactful mentorship from P&D faculty and staff has on their work. Boland explained, “Getting to hear [their] perspectives has been absolutely immeasurable in figuring out how I approach my process, how I approach creative problem solving… because there’s a lot of it!”
Conversations with Seo, Lily, Aryana, and Maddie exemplified the positive impact of background research and collaborative conversations throughout the design and production process of TISCH DRAMA STAGE's Rhinoceros.