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2007 » USA » National section

Curator:Alexandra Bonds, Alexandra Bonds
Designer / Architect of exhibition:Ursula Belden, Laura Crow, Michael Lincoln, Madeleine Tsu, Nic Ularu

New Voices, New Visions: Out of the Box

The USITT PQ 2007 USA curators shared a vision to exhibit the true caliber and range of theatrical design existing in the United States. From Broadway musicals to Shakespeare and the classics, to contemporary activism, from traditional theatres to found spaces, the mosaic of American theatre design is vast and complex. The task of sorting and making sense of this gamut of productions challenged the curators to choose designs that would demonstrate the individuality within the disparate approaches and aesthetic philosophies while discovering their unity within the exhibit. The theme New Voices, New Visions: Out of the Box emerged, allowing each curator to bring his or her own meaning to the discussions. “New” could be mean design form or subject matter, creative technology, or current political and social issues found in recent scripts. New voices came from both young and established designers who had the courage and imagination to break away from traditional practice to create work that surprised, delighted, or even disturbed. The team identified the work of theatre artists who had redefined the art and pushed it to its limits. New visions emerged in re-invented theatre spaces, while others envisioned the use of technology to create a new theatrical landscape. Many of the designs selected literally took audiences out of the “box” of the box set. The curators acknowledged designers making imaginative and exciting choices to create a vibrant American theatre that expressed our humanity and touched our lives in ever more meaningful ways, confronting the new reality of the post 9/11, Oklahoma City, Columbine, Katrina country that is the USA today. It was not possible to represent America’s diversities without extremes and disparities. However, each production shares the flash of invention and interpretation, arresting images that actively participate in telling the story, and the voice and vision of an artist looking beyond the predictable into the inner life of the text to give the audience a fresh and powerful experience. The exhibit design leads the visitor on a journey, using technology to create a personal experience for each guest. Projected design images on a vast angled screen greet each visitor at the entrance. Inside, interactive video and sound stations provide greater access to images and words telling the story of each design. In the gallery, designs are shown with models, renderings, photos, and installations of costumes and puppets. The curators and exhibit designers fused an inspiring exhibition with the presentation of the landscape of American theatre design representing the most innovative and thought-provoking work in the USA today.


The open configuration embodies the theme and stimulating work within. The walls burst out at angles, the entrance towers push into space, declaring we are “Out of the Box!”

Exhibiting artists / ateliers

[show all | hide all]
  • Adrienne Lobel (Adrianne Lobel)
  • Jennifer Tipton
  • Alexandra Bonds
  • Connie  Furr-Soloman
  • Constance Hoffman
  • Sonya BERLOVITZ
  • Klara ZIEGLEROVA
  • Isabel Rubio
  • Vincent Olivieri
  • Laura Ratzlaff (Laura Cassidy Ratzlaff)
  • Marjorie Bradley  Kellogg (Marjorie Kellogg)
  • Helen Huang
  • Juliet Chia
  • Michael Heil
  • Kris Stone
  • Christopher Studley
  • Adam Miecielica
  • Beth Weaver
  • Michael Lincoln
  • Tim Gray
  • Harry Feiner
  • Joseph P. Tilford (Joseph Tilford)
  • Sheila Hargett
  • Judith Dolan
  • Dennis Hassan
  • Leiko Fuseya
  • Lynne Koscielniak
  • Federico Restrepo
  • Ming Cho Lee
  • ELIZABETH Bourgeois (Elizabeth Bourgeois)
  • William Pryor Brewer
  • Robert Brill
  • Hillary Charnas
  • Michael Curry
  • Gideon Davey
  • Marija Djordjevic
  • Liliana Duque-Piñeiro
  • Robert Eubanks
  • Marketa Trosterova-Fantova
  • Olivera Gajic
  • Mary Geiger (Mary Louise Geiger)
  • Susan Hilferty Susan Hilferty (Susan Hilferty)
  • Branimira Ivanova
  • Virgil Charles Johnson
  • Thomas Kamm
  • Anna Kiraly
  • Eugene Lee
  • William Liotta
  • Derek McLane
  • David Evans Morris
  • Daniel Ostling
  • Scott Pask
  • Joe Payne
  • Jeff Quinn
  • Shane Rettig
  • Carrie F. ROBBINS (Carrie Robbins)
  • Todd Rosenthal
  • Josh Schmidt
  • Dan Moses Schreier
  • Dominique Serrand
  • Paul Shortt
  • Vicki M. Smith
  • Julie Taymor
  • George  Tsypin (George Tsypin)
  • Shima Ushiba
  • David Van Tiegham (David Van Tieghem)
  • Nick Vaughan
  • Brad Ward
  • David Zinn
  • Andrea Králová
  • Basil Twist
  • Paul Steinberg
  • Linda Essig
  • R. Eric Stone (Eric Stone)
  • Christopher Barreca (Chris Barreca)
  • Narelle Sissons
  • Ana Kuzmanic
  • Marcus Dilliard
  • Robert Mark Morgan
  • Erhard Rom
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