Concept:
The show takes place after Black has saved white from jumping in front of the Sunset Limited, a passenger train. The concept we employed is that the whole two hour play takes place within the last second that White can stop him self from being killed, in other words he's in mid-leap, and Black has been sent to convince him not to Jump. There are many pieces of the text that suggest this interpretation. To that end, the stenography is not then meant to represent a physical place, instead it symbolizes the place White exists in. A place between life and death.
The Set
The Set only aquires the characteristics needed within the action of the play. It has a stove, refrigerator, a door, and little else. Light, then, is the way in which the playing space is defined.
The Refrigerator
We used a working fridge but replaced its interior light with a super bright LED. This served to break up the visual monotony inherent in the play. The goal from a conceptual stand point was to pierce the space with a piece of the real world in a way that demonstrates the non-reality of the setting.
The Stove
Similarly to the fridge, the stove was lit with a tight special in order to break up the visual monotony of the staging and further conceptualize the non-real aspect of the setting.
The Ending (below) presented an interesting challenge. The director wanted White's exit from the apartment to symbolize that he had made a choice. I used images of the milky way and the cosmos to inspire this look. It's as if he is venturing out into his destiny.
