Running through February 22nd
The Revenants Set Designer Dan Stratton bucks a trend, gets intimate, and tells us What Scares Him:
1) Do you consider yourself a horror fan?
Nope. Too scary for me. I have nightmares. But I appreciate the genre. It is certainly an important piece of the broader entertainment landscape.
2) What was your introduction to horror?
My birth.
3) Zombies: Fast or Slow?
Fast.
4) How is design for horror different than for other genres of storytelling? What lessons have you learned from this project that you’re excited to use in the future?
It is not different at all. I didn’t even think about it during the design process. It was not the job of the scenery to convey horror. I’ve discovered that proximity increases tension. People always tout the ‘intimacy’ of Chicago storefront, but I think the feeling of tension in a small blackbox is just as important. We put the set much closer to the audience than we had to, given the available upstage space.
No escape.
5) What Scares You?
Black cougars, glowing C.G. butterflies, sensory deprivation, man-slaughter, potholes, et cetera.
Join us this Saturday for our Valentine’s Day Spectacular, When Does Love Die–you can see an afternoon staged reading of WildClaw’s hit show Carmilla, PLUS that evening’s performance of Scott T. Barsotti’s The Revenants for just 40 dollars!