Tantrum Theater’s “Pride and Prejudice” allows students to take risks with creative designs

The set of “Pride and Prejudice” was designed by Princess Ibeh, a third-year graduate student studying scenic design. As a fan of the book since childhood, the choice between designing this play or Tantrum Theater’s spring production, “The Prom,” was an easy one for Ibeh to make.

“At the first meeting with the director, I realized she was doing something totally different,” Ibeh said. “It was not the regular ‘Pride and Prejudice’ everybody was expecting.”

The concept was to take “the game of love” literally: each character as a player on a game show, complete with player stations and sponsorship logos. The concept was described by props manager Grace Easterday as “taking this very traditional type of play and throwing some fun at it.”

Easterday graduated with an MFA in props technologies in May and found her way back to Tantrum Theater as she looked for local work in Athens.

“I hope (the props design) helps enhance the world of the show, that’s really what props tries to do,” Easterday said. “We had a saying develop in the shop over my time as a student: the set is a house but props make it a home.” 

Another aspect of scenic design is the paintwork. “Pride and Prejudice’s” head painter, also known as the charge artist, is Zach Snow, a third-year graduate student studying scenic design.

“I communicate with the scenic designer to figure out how the show is going to be painted,” Snow said. “I pick out specific colors, I pick out what paint treatments we use and how it’s going to be put onto the show in order to achieve the scenic designer's vision.”

The intricacies of the paintwork presented Snow with both the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of the process.

“It’s a very simplistic set with bold and solid colors, but with that comes a higher level of attention to detail than a normal show,” Snow said. “…making sure we were really going above and beyond in achieving those details proved to be more intensive than one would believe.” 

On the props side, difficulties came in the form of problem-solving to meet the unique needs of the show.

“In a way you’re battling physics all the time, trying to make sure something fits the needs while also being easy enough that you don’t have to go through a really complicated process,” Easterday said. 

For Ibeh, the challenge of this show was stepping away from her background in architecture, the field in which she received her undergraduate degree. The set of “Pride and Prejudice” required an organic mindset, a total juxtaposition to the precision and rigidity Ibeh had grown used to.

“All the shows I’ve designed before this have been really architectural…so doing this was me trying to move away from my comfort zone,” she said. 

Ibeh left her comfort zone in more ways than one while working on this show. 

“Princess was basically the right-hand man in the technical directing world, so not only did she design it but she helped build it as well, which is a really cool thing,” said Jaxon Meadows, OHIO’s assistant technical director and the technical director of “Pride and Prejudice.”

Meadows also dealt with his share of challenges while working on the show, including timing considerations revolving around the scrim and the accompanying construction difficulties. However, he believes the company succeeded at the core mission of the show.

“It is a show that is warm and about love, so (we make) sure that feeling leaves the theater as audience members leave,” he said.

“Pride and Prejudice” runs at the Forum Theater in the Radio, Television (RTV) Building on the Athens campus until Nov. 9. For tickets and more information visit https://www.ohio.edu/fine-arts/tantrum-theater.