About the Production:
The confines of Yello Gallery's
basement, a narrow space with a 6’6” ceiling,
provided the right starting point for a work about unorthodox
(and arguably inhuman) imprisonment.
One of
the applications of slides in the production
was to chronicle the major chapters
of the story. |
Fluorescent lighting
and a rear-projection screen, along with the faint smell
of bleach, provided a suitably claustrophobic landscape.
Rodgers moved cyclically through a alow maze of framed glass
panels, faintly tinted green and laced with chicken wire.
The depth of the playng space afforded her characters the
opportunity to alternately loom and shrink in the eyes of
the audience.
Sound designer
Malcolm Nicholls created a continual soundscape that, in
conjunction with Settle’s lights and their co-designed
set and projection design, created a woven fabric of sensory
experience that drove the 37-minute performance. Audience
members often commented that they couldn’t be certain
how long they had been in the white room.
Extra performances
were scheduled to accommodate student groups and selections
of Bombs in the Ladies Room were performed at the National
Women in Theatre Conference. D13 found itself facilitating
a public discourse on terrorism, as the run of Bombs in
the Ladies Room coincided with trials for the Oklahoma City
Bombings. The production, originally scheduled for a 6-week
run, was extended to 10 weeks.
Bombs in the Ladies
Room was the first production of Joanna Settle’s artistic
directorship.
