This year's competition play was Marina Carr's, By The Bog Of Cats. Based on Sophocles' classic play Medea, and set in modern Ireland, it is a story of love, betrayal, abandonment, revenge, and murder. The setting is the Bog of Cats...a remote spot somewhere in the middle of the Emerald Isle. It is winter, and everything is frozen. Of course the lighting will be very dark. We chose to use all black, white, and greys in the set and costumes with the exception of a splash of forshadowing red where appropriate. I used all of the elements of the unit set except for the bi-fold and tri-fold flats in an attempt to create an environment that depicted a rough exterior as well as the chaos and conflict of the characters' relationships within the play. I wanted it to be simple, but at the same time, I wanted it to appear complicated. I chose not to add a great deal to the unit set. The only additions were the six trees and a stump, which can be used without requesting approval. I hoped these would help the audience realize the exterior setting as well as the frozen climate. A fog machine was used throughtout the play to give it the visual appearance of mystery and things hidden from view. Two floor mounted spotlights were used to accentuate the fog from the back. Two more floor mounted spotlights were used as a special effect for an offstage fire. In all, it was a pretty successful attempt to get maximum visual effect from a minimal amount of "stuff".

This shot of the set was made with full light so all the elements can be seen clearly. The crossing obliques created with unit set was intended to communicate the broken and opposing relationships. The trees were constructed using electrical conduit pipe, expanding foam insulation, and erosion cloth. They were painted with black and white spray paint and decorated with large glitter and sparkle streamers to give the illusion of ice crystals. The fog machine keeps a steady haze over the center of the set.

We wanted the opening picture to be striking. We placed the Ghost Fancier character standing on top of a six foot pylon. His face was barely lit by one of the floor mounted specials. The effect of his black costume against the negative space of the black curtain was that of his face floating twelve feet above the action on stage. The fog boiling around him only enhanced the effect. Exact placement and careful clamping of the pylon to the adjoining platform were critical to the actor's safety in the scene.

In the opening scene, Hester drags the carcass of a dead black swan on stage. The swan was the same approximate size and weight of an adult swan. It was created by wrapping scrap peices of lumber in foam rubber, binding them in burlap, and covering the whole thing in a white bedsheet. The feathered wings were sewn in place, and a hemp rope was tied around the "carcass" to facilitate the dragging action.

This was blood formula #1. I used several different formulas in the show, because blood is not just blood. This formula was created by using equal parts chocolate syrup and strawberry syrup. It was poured over the suspended carcass and allowed to dry. It tasted pretty good, but it took five days to dry to a useable state.

The Catwoman is the "Soothsayer" of the classic Greek tragedies. She is blind, yet sees and knows all. We wanted her costume to appear to be made from feline pelts. Over a dozen different faux furs were torn and sewn onto the costume. We were careful to keep them within the black, white, and grey color scheme.

The knife presented another challenge. We wanted it to be threatening and menacing, but remain safe for the actors to use. We rejected rubber knives, because their behavior gave them away, and they were no longer menacing. I chose an old hunting knife and blunted the edge and point. I used a grinding wheel, a flat file, sandpaper, and emory cloth to accomplish the end result. In the end, the knife could be dragged across my tongue with no effect, so I felt confident that it could be used on the delicate necks of our actresses.

In an act of revenge, Hester sets a large fire offstage. I tried several methods of creating the effect, including using a multicolored rotating wheel in front of a spotlight. However, wattage limitations of our control equipment made a single spotlight ineffective. Finally, I eliminated the wheel, added a second 500w spotlight, gelled each instrument with a different color, and allowed them to chase at the control board's highest speed. The result was very striking. The fire litrerally danced off the white satin of Hester's wedding dress.

Hester is visited by the ghost of the brother she murdered. She cut his throat and threw him overboard from his fishing boat. I wanted the blood to appear a little different from the other formulas. I wanted a sort of "watered down" look. This was accomplished with corn syrup and red and yellow food coloring. The wound on his neck was created with liquid latex, muslin, nose putty, and spirit gum.

In the end, Hester kills her daughter rather than subject her to the kind of life that she has lead. Again the knife plays an important role. A blood bulb was taped to the handle and filled with blood fromula #3. This was simply chocolate syrup and red food coloring. It gave an almost too real illusion of fresh blood. Getting that dress to come clean was a "booger" of a chore as well. We found that a liberal coating of heavy duty, outdoor Scotchguard helped greatly.