Projection Design

Her Honor Jane Byrne by J. Nicole Brooks

Direction J. Nicole Brooks

  • Scenic Yu Shubagaki

  • Lighting Chris Binder

  • Costume Meika van der Ploeg

  • Sound Chris Laporte

Projections Team

  • Associate Michael Commendatore

  • Projectionist Robert Hornbostel│Parker Langvardt

Lookingglass Theatre Company 2021│Joseph Jefferson Award Nomination

“Yu Shibagaki's set combines the concrete-and-graffiti world of Cabrini with a wall of video monitors on which we see both archival documentary footage and close-ups of the actors. In one particularly moving segment, Tiger (Nicole Michelle Haskins), Che's niece, is stuck in a broken project elevator, which leads to her losing her job. (Dunford's Byrne steps in to help her get rehired.) We see only her back to the metal gate facing the stage, but her face, suffused with frustration and rage, fills the monitors. There's a distinct Brechtian element here as well, with supertitles functioning like chapter headings, such as "Street Tribes, Christians, Liquor Stores, and Lakefront Liberals." Kerry Reid Chicago Reader

“The grim concrete walls of Cabrini’s towers (the fine design of the ever-ingenious Yu Shibagaki, expertly lit by Christine A. Binder) serve as the backdrop for Rasean Davonte Johnson’s evocative collages of archival film and photos of the period.” Hedy Weiss WTTW News

“All up and down the stage wall is an assortment of old Cathode-Ray televisions. Screens and projections in theatre are very difficult to pull off; if too much action takes place onscreen, one begins to wonder why we’re not just watching a movie. Smartly, the director and projection designer (Rasean Davonte Johnson) have made sure to always incorporate the video elements into the live elements onstage — whether by using more abstract images to reflect a character’s emotional state, or by incorporating actual television broadcasts and commercials from the 80’s to ground the play in its time period. In one particularly effective scene, Jane watches a television interview about her recent exploits. As the interview grows more heated and impassioned, the image grows distorted and spreads across the screens. The characters eventually break through onto the stage wearing the exact same costumes as in the video, and continue the interview. It’s a moving way to visualize how the criticism from the community is affecting Jane, growing more powerful and harder to ignore.” Aaron Lockman Rescripted

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Photos by Rasean Davonte Johnson and Liz Lauren