“The central concept regarding The Memory of Water design is that of the fallibility of memory; how memory has detail when you specifically remember events and places, but all of the time and space surrounding those events is fuzzy. To communicate this idea, no detail of the setting can be untouched by this idea, family photos, walls, furniture and even the floor.
This idea is best illustrated by the photos below. In the photograph of the airplane, note how the door leading to the interior of the plane is sharp and clear while the photo blurs at the edges. This draws us into the plane, to see what is inside:
In the photo of the Sign, we see the place very clearly depicted, but not what is happening:
There is an incredible struggle between perception and truth in the course of events leading to a Mother’s funeral. This struggle needs to be subtly depicted in the Design of the show for a successful environment.”
–Heath Hays, scenic and props designer, “The Memory of Water.”
Heath is a freelance Scenic, Sound, Projection and Lighting designer and a member of Backstage Theatre Company where he has designed the Jeff recommended productions of Waiting For Lefty (Scenic) and Medea (Scenic), as well as Bloody Bess (Scenic), Beauty on the Vine (Scenic), Zombies from the Beyond (Scenic), and The Ruling Class (Sound). Heath has worked for several theatre companies in Chicago and the surrounding areas including: Infamous Commonwealth Theatre Company, Seanachai Theatre Company, Grey Zelda Theatre Group, The Mill, Hell In A Handbag Productions, Village Players, Audacity Theatre, and several others.
