Q&A with Scenic Designer, Marie Laster

What compelled you about this project?

When I first read the play, I didn’t understand it so then it became a puzzle to figure out. Once I start figuring things out, my job is to help the story with the setting and give the audience clues about who the characters are.  

How would you describe the world of this play, and what was most important to you to evoke in creating this world? 

The set is a cottage in a fishing village on the west coast of Ireland. Ireland’s coast is very lush and rocky, so I pulled the color palette from that landscape. The characters are very attached to the house and the outside world seems like something of their imagination. After talking to the director, Emma Gibson, I realized it was important to merge textures from the outside world with the inside world. 

Hedgerow is situated in a historic grist mill-turned-theatre. What, if anything, was different in your approach to designing in this intimate and historic space? 

I didn’t try to hide any of the stone walls of Hedgerow and in the world of this play, the stone walls actually fit in beautifully.

What opportunities did the play and this unique space provide that were exciting to you? 

I played around a lot with physical texture and the set builder, Paul Kuhn, did a great job bringing those textures to life. And it was great to include the structure of Hedgerow as the backdrop of the set.