As part of Baltimore’s Nevermore 2009 celebration, Baltimore native and Obie Award-winning playwright and director David Drake, currently living and working in New York, has conceived and directed The Fall of the House of Usher (Feb. 20-21) in the MICA BBox. This short, one-act, experimental performance piece inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s masterpiece will be performed by MICA students from across disciplines and features lighting design by BBox performance space technician Kel Millionie and stage set artwork and set design by illustration students in Jose Villarrubia’s Illustration Concepts class. The musical score by Trevor Kuprel was created specially for this production.
Students created imagery that was projected onto blank flats that were staged to represent windows, doors, wall and suggest the passage of time. The actors were choreographed to move the panels continuously throughout the production suggesting the architecture of the House as well as the dream sequence.
“Theatrical performance and set design have been of great interest to me since my years as a student artist. This production opened up the world of theater in a visual way to students, incorporating how imagery works in spaces, how light and human interaction affect these images and how the story on stage can be revealed without words when visual metaphors and visual communication is used. Students were also afforded the chance to work with professionals of national reputation, thereby increasing their own professional development.” said Villarrubia
left to right: Kel Millione, Trevor Kuprel, David Drake, Jose Villarrubia
