Do You Love Singing Fruit?

A new play I am designing lights for opens tonight as part of the FRIGID festival! It is a short (60min.) play with music (It does not have enough songs to be called a musical.)

Coosje Is the story of two artists, husband and wife, finding their playful aesthetic together. The show is an artistic representation of the collaborative world of sculptors Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Coosje is not a realistic portrayal of the artists, but a whimsical look at collaboration and love. We see Claes and Coosje meet, marry, create art together and, when Coosje becomes ill, escape into the fantastical world they have spent their lives creating. This journey is paired beautifully with the heroic quest of the singing Pear, who has gained consciousness and seeks to discover her purpose. The Pear travels the world searching for the meaning of life; she refuses to believe that being someone's snack is all there is to it.


I had 3 hours to design the lights! Normally a show has at the very least a week to move in the set, costume, props, sound, and lights; most of the time you have plenty more than a week. But festivals are insane, shows are playing back to back, usually in more than one venue. Because there is 30min. between performances, the show that performs before us has 15min. to pack up all their stuff and get out, and we have 15min. between walking into the venue and starting the show.