Stage Design
Tom Paine by Paul Foster
Written in the heyday of the 1960’s experimental theatre movement, Paul Foster’s Tom Paine incorporates elements of Living Theatre, improvisation, and Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty. The story of a genuine American Revolutionary explodes in all directions. A risky production under any circumstances, the show requires not only immersing the audience in an authentic 18th-century environment, but assaulting them from all sides: actors slip in and out of multiple characters, scenes occur out of sequence and often overlap, and live animals wander through the show. For this production, the theater was completely transformed. Taking its cue from the building itself, the environmental setting incorporated catwalks, ramps, ladders and platforms, two rope bridges, cargo nets, a nylon chute, a three-story tower with a sliding portcullis grille, food fights on a seesaw, and gargantuan puppets. The floor was covered in earth and littered with hay. A live caged bear was kept onstage, as was a roost of chickens, a baby pig, and three large turtles. The audience and actors mingled; there was no fixed or designated seating. Early 19th-century sensibility meets 20th-century style.