The neighboring but deeply divided worlds of Lady O’Reilly’s Irish Pub and Rose Fleishman’s Jewish Deli needed to look as gritty and real as the mistrust between these two widows and the global war that was on the horizon in 1938.
So Magenta Theater turned as always to Duane Peterson, its “guru and mastermind of stage sets,” according to publicist Francine Raften. Peterson worked with a set-design-and-construction class he was teaching to bring the setting of “Rose Colored Glass” — two kitchens separated by an alleyway in 1938 Chicago — to vivid life.
“It was brilliant,” said Raften. “People raved about it. We had patrons saying, ‘This was just like going to my grandmother’s deli, that’s my grandmother’s house!’ ”
But it also became clear to the leaders of Magenta, a nonprofit community theater on Main Street in downtown Vancouver, that set designers and set builders are overlapping but not identical groups. Some love reading scripts and thinking about the subtleties of stagecraft; some prefer getting their hands on paint and hammers and power tools.
“All right, we’ll have separate classes,” decided artistic director Jaynie Roberts — the overall point being to “raise up more set designers” and prevent Peterson, a volunteer — and a gifted stage actor too, Roberts said — from burning out.
So here comes a three-session set design class, taught by Peterson on three days in early August. Topics will include how to read and study a script and how to work with a director to develop a stage design, how to deal with special circumstances and building materials and how the set designer ultimately pulls ideas together into practical sketches that can be used by set builders.
Please be clear, Roberts pointed out: this is a design-only class, not a construction class. The minimum age to sign up is 20.
The cost for the class is $50, but there’s a twist: complete all three sessions and you get $25 back. If you go on to work with Magenta and successfully design a set for a main stage production, you’ll get the rest of your fee back. In other words, lots of knowledge for, potentially, no money at all.
Magenta’s set design class is set for 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8; 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9; and 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11. Visit www.magentatheater.com to sign up.
Meanwhile, a different Magenta project is getting ready to take the stage. Following in the footsteps of “The Moth,” the wildly popular live storytelling show that’s carried on public radio, Magenta has launched “The Edge,” its own storytelling project. Rebecca Hoffman has been teaching a storytelling class and five of her students (plus Hoffman herself) will bare their souls at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $5 for the general-admission performance. Visit the Magenta website for advance tickets.
You will definitely laugh, you might cry — but you won’t have to cover up your youngsters’ ears, Hoffman said.
Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.
