The Homecoming musical featured swings and a 'library of props' to recreate the world of'Matilda.' The 2019 Homecoming musical, "Matilda," reached new heights with a unique set design. Swings, screens and scooters were added to this year's show. Dottie Frye, assistant professor of theatre and director of the musical, said she talked with set designer Britton Lynn, associate professor of theatre, about ideas she liked for set design when they first selected "Matilda" in spring 2019. Lynn said Frye told him she did not want to sit in the dark between scene changes, so she wanted a unit set. This meant the entire set was always on stage, and scene changes were indicated by a change in lighting rather than a physical change of scenery. "You have to be very creative at figuring out how to hide all of the different locations in plain sight," Lynn said. Lynn said the idea for the set was to mirror Matilda's love of reading by having a "library of props" on scaffolding levels that designated different scenes of the story. Lynn added that building the unit set with levels was an easier build than previous Harding productions were because the University already had most of the scaffolding they needed. The set was built in the Ulrey Performing Arts Center and then transported to the stage in the George S. Benson Auditorium. Freshman Keller Montgomery, ensemble member, said he liked the "library of props" idea because it reflected the theme of storytelling and nodded to Matilda's love for the library and how she used it to break free. "Even though bad things are happening to her, she's taking control of her own story, and she gets to decide how it ends," Montgomery said. "She's going to make a happy ending for herself." Frye said she made it clear she wanted to have swings for the show. She said they hired an outside professional company to help fulfill her dream of having swings on stage because the auditorium's previous flight system was removed. She said having playful elements like the swings was important to her to capture the wonder of being a child in the story. "There is something magical [a child experiences] with the freedom of a swing," Frye said. "I never want to lose the wonder of being God's child, and so, for me, a show that embraces the joy of children, it's just right up my alley." Frye said they broke new ground using LED panels to display imagery within the set. Lynn said he used the panels to create scenes that nodded to the original show since the unit set design they chose was different from most productions of "Matilda." "That's actually the really fun part of my job," Lynn said. "The joy of doing set design is figuring out how you can do the list of technical problems that the script gives you in the time frame you have, with the budget you have, with the people you have [and] in the space you have." story by Sarah Barnard student life 29
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