Proof
By David Auburn
Direction: Lynn Antunovich
Scenic Design: Dr. Tetta Askeland
Costume Design: Trace Reid Swisher
Lighting Design: Ryanne Fury
Sound Design: Chuck Hatcher
Technical Direction: Abby Bender
West Virginia Public Theatre's production of Proof was the second show of my second summer with the company, designed by Dr. Tetta Askeland. Early in the design process, we had a change of director, and Ms. Antunovich was kind enough to keep most of the design ideas that had been discussed with our original director.
Renderings and elevations by
Dr. Tetta Askeland
A lot of the scenic inspiration and design aesthetic came from the idea of the fracturing of Robert's mind as he succumbed to the effects of his mental illness. The three-quarter thrust theatre we were working in allowed the actors to be very close and intimate with the audience, as well as giving extra entrances via the downstage voms.
This show was developed and budgeted very late: in addition to the change of director, our scenic designer had some personal emergencies that meant that I was budgeting this while the first show of the season was being built, and there were still design questions to be asked while I was building this production.
The original design had had two additional roof pieces that were eventually cut due to safety concerns about install with a limited crew.
Build of this show was done primarily by myself and my lead carpenter, Delcan Mungovan, as the other half of my crew was also run crew for the season's first production. Thankfully the simplified nature of the walls, combined with our ability to make the deck with all stock platforms, meant that he and I were able to build everything very quickly.
There was a retaining wall that was designed, which I built to spec and sent into the rehearsal room. Over the next few days, I received changes and notes on the wall and after four interations was able to come to something that the director and designer both liked.
I had my entire crew available to me for install, which took place over a quick three days. We were able to get the deck entirely completed in one, with the roof, walls, and masking getting taken care of in the other two.
The artistic director, director, and scenic designer asked at one point for the roof unit to be moved stage right several feet, which was a tricky ask but one that was able to be completed without too much fuss.
Additionally, I had to take a significant portion of height out of the railings: their original setup were more accurate to what would exist in real life, but they were too tall for the audience in the first few rows to see the performers when sitting on the porch furniture.
All photos on this page were taken by me