By York Kennedy, Lighting Designer for the Strindberg Cycle

Driving over the bridge today (October 23), exhausted from a full day of work already, I was wondering how in the world I was going to muster up the energy to work changes in two full pieces tonight, watch a run of both Pelican and Black Glove, be productive – and then do production notes! Stage Designers much like many other artists are asked to juggle a lot of different projects at once, yet we must always be present, alert and creative when called upon. I started to think about the fact that I may never get a chance to work on these pieces again, about just how special the writing is – how dark, rich, haunting, sad, and yet beautiful these works are. I should add that it is simply thrilling to create a world with light and watch talents like Jim, David, Caitlin, etc. live inside it – creating their wonderful vicious mysterious characters. Life could be worse! I know it is a cliché but this is a perfect case of “how does one stay present and connected to the work – alive and collaborative”? This is truly fascinating work and I cherish every day I am part of it. I know that these times are rare and well… I need more coffee. Time to make some theatre.