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Light Shining in Buckinghamshire – Caryl Churchill

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire – Caryl Churchill

  • Scenography and Costume Design – Luisa Pacheco
  • Staging – Padraig Tolan
  • Production – Newcastle University
Newcastle – England

About the design of the play

The play was designed for a wide rectangular space – the Auditorium of Newcastle University, England. The whole space was defined as an action zone, placing the audience in benches in the centre of the space. The various scenes of the play were represented around the audience, surprising people in relation to the action zone. This spatial implantation created the necessity of the audience to adapt to the visualisation of each scene, thus creating an atmosphere of interaction. The play occurs in the 17th century, in rural England, thereby, scenographically, the floor was covered with dry straw creating a rural as well as sensorial and visual atmosphere. The different scenographic ambients were created scene to scene in order to enable the course of action. Therefore, different ambients were created in the same space. The text tackles the breakdown of Catholicism and the rise of Puritanism in the 17th century England, represented through the costumes, which were based on the long robes worn by priests. Each character was constructed scene to scene using identifying sociocultural elements.