by SUZAN-LORI PARKS

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Studio 1
London
1st Term 2nd Year – Autumn 2016

Performance Design, Lighting Design

This show is based on a true story of the black South African woman fooled by two white British businessmen to move to the 1850’s London and become the main attraction of a freak show.

The rhythm of the text is frenetic, nearly 30 scenes in an hours show! The style is dark and abstract, with the added feature of  live music and a conductor imitating the figure of a circus director that drives the show as if it was happening inside a freak show.

I decided to use a twisted cabaret style for the lighting design.  After considerable research, I found that it is common to use pink, gold and blue colours for cabaret shows, so these became part of my basic palette.  It is also common to use sharp and contrasted lights and I decided to advance even further with this idea which helped me create an uncomfortable and desperate feeling of isolation.