As always, I try to make our final production of the year a play about Texas or by a Texan or both. This year, The Trip To Bountiful is both. It is about Texas and by Texas' most prolific playwright, Horton Foote, and wraps up our "Journey Home Season".

Mr. Foote certainly knows a thing or two about "home". Almost all of his plays are about his hometown of Wharton, Texas. This play is all about a small, nearby farming community that on longer exists. Our great state is full of such places. Today, most of the farmhouses have fallen down or have been taken down. All that remains is barbed wire, prickley pears, pump jacks, and rattlesnakes. None-the-less, they are still home to many, just as Bountiful is home to Carrie Watts.

I wanted the apartment in Houston to look as drab as possible. I tried to find the ugliest curtains on Earth.

Carrie talks about not being able to sleep when there is a full moon. Of course, it would have been preferable to have it coming through the window, however, that was not possible. We had to settle for this effect.

We used a B.A, Special Lav., and a Light Straw for this room.

We tried to keep the rooms separated by using isolated lighting areas.

You,ve gotto love actresses that are willing to smear goopy stuff on their face in the name of the play!

Of course, one problem with multiple sets in this type of venue is to keep it simple. I wanted the Houston station to seem more modern and clinical than the Harrison station. We used a painted marble panel and red pin stripes to dress it up a bit.

For simplicity, we did the bus with two folding chairs and a very tight pool of light. I tried to get a sort of blue light to look the reading lights that were overhead. It created a sort of eerie look.

We simply turned the counter around and created another side for this station. I wanted it to look more rustic and maybe even homemade. At least, a different look from the other one.

I decided to use a chalk board for this device. I tried to use towns and cities that were mentioned in the script or were on the route.

The classic look. Unarmed...unless he feels the need.

She says that no one has lived in it for 30 years, and she hasn't seen it for 20. I wanted it to be more than just weathered. The apartment unit was double sided to create this facade. I wanted it to be broken and overgrown.

She says that she doesn't think it will survive the next gulf storm. I wanted the roof to appeare about to fall in and of course, the windows just had to be broken.

We had a lot of fun building the windows. The apartment windows popped out of one side while the farmhouse windows popped in the other. We had even more fun breaking the glass.