Westfield library hosts theatre exhibition by Fredonia students and faculty

Creativity and craftsmanship of Theatre Design and Production students at SUNY Fredonia, along with faculty and staff in the Department of Theatre and Dance, are in the spotlight in an exhibition at Patterson Library, 40 S. Portage, Westfield.

Full-scale costumes and set pieces combine with models, sketches and renderings of varying scales to demonstrate the considerable breadth of “Setting the Stage,” in the library’s Octagon Art Gallery, that spans pre-pandemic practices to virtual COVID-19 productions to the recent return of live performances at Fredonia.

“It’s a nice snapshot of theatre before and during the pandemic, where live theatre had to adjust to the circumstances on how it produced shows for a live and sometimes remote audience,” said Associate Professor of Scenic Design Czerton Lim.

“The way in which those ideas are expressed in the sketches or in the models certainly shows a level of artistry that can translate into qualifiable skills that is useful to showcase the designer’s aesthetics and range.” - Associate Professor Czerton Lim

“Little did we know how different the world would be,” reflected Hyla Stellhorn, a freelance scenic designer and exhibition coordinator of the Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery in Rockefeller Arts Center. Patterson Library Gallery Director Nancy Nixon Ensign reached out to Ms. Stellhorn in 2019 about hosting an art exhibition in 2022 that features the work of Fredonia theatre designers.

“I figured we would dust off old scenic models and renderings, maybe put a couple of period costumes from stock, and throw a show together,” Ms. Stellhorn recalled. “Instead, something much more significant developed.”

What emerged, as production work from the last three years came together, was an exhibition that depicts the flexibility, resiliency and recovery of the performing arts throughout the course of the pandemic, Stellhorn said.

“From the large scale scenic design for a 2019 production of Disney's musical ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ to a 2020 filmed staging of ‘Talley's Folly’ – a two-person show employing a husband and wife team to avoid risk of quarantine – to a Spring 2021 version of ‘She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms’ – with a sizeable cast performing from separate locations via Zoom – to the Hillman Opera's Fall 2021 masked performances of ‘Il Matrimonio Segreto,’ this exhibit demonstrates the adaptation and evolution of theater under the most challenging of circumstances in real time,” Ms. Stellhorn explained.

A highlight is a life-size scenic installation – it takes up a third of the gallery space – from the Fredonia School of Music’s 2021 Hillman Opera production of “II Matrimonio Segreto,” designed by Ms. Stellhorn. Associate Professor David Stellhorn, the opera’s technical director, coordinated construction of the extensive set that included installing columns and painting gallery walls. Costumed mannequins that fill in for performers wear clothes designed specifically for the production by Jessica Lustig, the department’s costume shop assistant.

Pop-up scenery designed to fit in a student’s residence hall room is from the Spring 2021 Zoom performance of “She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms.” Alyssa Ferris, a senior, designed the scenery. Yuwan Viros, a senior also majoring in Communication: Public Relations, designed costumes for this and another production, “The Normal Heart,” also included in the exhibit.

How theatre artisans adapted during the height of the pandemic, before vaccines became available, is demonstrated in “She Kills Monsters.” The play was reconceived to accommodate isolated performers coming together on a virtual platform, Ms. Stellhorn explained.

Actors came together on screen from their dormitories or off-campus housing – with portable backdrops installed behind them. Costumes and props were delivered across the campus and throughout the village to create a live performance while keeping everyone socially distant.

Mer Platt, who recently earned a B.F.A. in Theatre Design and Production, created props and puppetry for “She Kills Monsters.” Donald Woodard, a senior, did set design for “The Wild Party,” also part of the exhibit.

A grid of costume renderings by Mr. Viros is displayed along with sheets of Masonite hand-painted for the production. Scenic rendering and paint elevations by Mr. Lim illustrate the visual significance of over 1,000 names of those who lost their lives during the onset of HIV/AIDS.

Two professional theatre productions included in the exhibition, Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and “Talley’s Folly,” were for Syracuse Stage.

“Most design starts with a sketch, and then refining those sketches where color is introduced, then perhaps to more formal renderings where those ideas are refined to also include color and texture, and then to white models and costume mock-ups, to color models and costume plates, then those are translated into construction plans and patterns to create the actual objects the audience sees on stage,” Lim explained.

What exhibition visitors see are the tools of communication for those working with and for the production, Lim explained, whether with the director in the rehearsal room or with the shops building the items.

“The way in which those ideas are expressed in the sketches or in the models certainly shows a level of artistry that can translate into quantifiable skills that is useful to showcase the designer’s aesthetics and range,” Lim said.

The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, is open during regular library hours through Friday, Feb. 4. Hours are: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m.