The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Yale Rep, CT)

CT Critics Award nomination: Outstanding Set Design

Director: Liz Diamond

Composer: David Lang

Choreographer: Randy Duncan,

Set Design: Chika Shimizu

Lighting Design: Stephen Strawbridge

Costume Design: Soule Golden

“It’s not unusual to be diverted by the high-quality technique of theater at the Yale Rep, but here the sleight-of-hand of Chika Shimizu’s set design takes its cue from the play’s fast and loose use of the spectator’s imagination to fill in the gaps. There are exits and entrances through sliding scenery, charmingly moveable peasant huts, a rocking explosion that bifurcates the backdrop, a perilous crossing of a misty ravine, and — a lovely effect — a projection of monstrous icicles that begin to drip, then turn to blossoms. In the second act, a hanging corpse dominates the backdrop to keep before us the fact that kangaroo courts can kill whomever they choose.”

— Donald Brown, New Haven Independent 3/31/2015