Harriet Jacobs - The Kansas City Repertory Theatre

THE PRODUCTION
DESIGN ELEMENTS
SET DESIGN
Collette Pollard, Set Designer
Collette Pollard returns to the Rep after having
designed the set for the Rep’s 2009 production of
The Glass Menagerie. Collette, who received her
MFA in scenic design from Northwestern University,
also designed the set for Steppenwolf Theatre
Company’s world premiere production of Harriet
Jacobs in 2008. She recently spoke to us about her
inspiration for the set and how the design has
evolved for the Rep’s production.
Like the last set you designed for the Rep, The Glass
Menagerie, Harriet Jacobs is a memory play. How
did you evoke this feeling of memory in the
set design?
Memory is evoked in two specific ways in this
production of Harriet Jacobs. Harriet's memory of
hiding in the attic for seven years--only able to see
the outside world through the cracks in the wood-- is
reflected in the set design through the use of narrow
openings in the upstage wall. These give us a sense
of seeing glimpses into her memory of cotton fields,
field workers, and watching her children grow and
play. The other way in which memory is addressed is
by not having anything real or tangible in the interior
scenes. For example, we don't see the interior of
Grandmother's kitchen or the Master's
house. Instead, we listen to Harriet describe her
memory of the space, and the ensemble helps set
the world of the play through movement and song.
Where did you draw your inspiration from for
the set?
I was inspired not only by the original architecture of
the actual attic in which Harriet hid, but also by what
it physically means to have freedom. In researching
Harriet Jacobs, I came across an installation by artist
Ellen Driscoll called The Loophole of Retreat.
HARRIET JACOBS
LEARNING GUIDE | 2010
This piece, although quite different from the scenic
design, inspired the idea of representing the seven
years of Harriet’s hiding with seven window-like
openings in the upstage wall. The idea to use all wood
boards came from our research on the homes, schools
and places of work of those who were enslaved. The
color was inspired by the yellowing of a page in a book
and a piece by Ronald Lockett, named Pregnant Lady,
that the costume designer, Jeremy Floyd, brought in
during our research process.
How has the design evolved since your design for the
Steppenwolf production?
The Kansas City Repertory scenic design is quite
different from the design at Steppenwolf Theatre.
At Steppenwolf, we dealt with memory by having the
entire space open with all the props and furniture
stored along the theatre walls. We evoked the trapped
feeling in the design, not only her literal hiding, but also
the traps that all the characters find themselves in. We
realized the architecture of Grandmother's house and
the big house with a cage-like structure indicating the
bones of the house. All the props were real to help
transform the space by the ensemble. We were also
interested in the cage-like qualities of the boning used
in period clothing to distinguish the white people in the
play. Three windows hung in the space giving us
moments of memory and, unlike seeing this
production's expansive landscapes through narrow
slots, we only saw the sky contained in the three
windows.
At KC Rep, the architecture of Copaken Stage, as well
as director Jessica Thebus' point of view on memory
and interest in seeing the writing on the walls, frees us
from creating a real structure for Grandmother's house
and the big house. We are more interested in
illustrating the coffin-like attic where Harriet felt more
free in hiding than when she was enslaved. The script
also went through changes allowing us to show the
outcome of her surviving and culminating with her
publishing her story.
Kansas City Repertory Theatre: Harriet Jacobs | 14