LEAH MAZUR
Scenic + Costume Designer for Destroying David!
"The designed space for Destroying David explores Circle Theatre in a way that feels truly organic in such an intimate venue. Designing for productions in the round adds nuance to the audience experience- not only are we witnessing the story onstage, we're witnessing the emotional journey of the audience members seated in the bank across from us. It creates a special moment of shared connectedness that I believe enhances the story in a special way."
Read below for the whole Q+A with Leah!
*May contain spoilers for the show!*
What drew you to working on Destroying David?
I'm a visual artist as well and try to find ways to intersect my design practice with my art practice. Similar to Artemisia, this script spoke to the art history nerd that lives in my brain. It draws on the cultural importance of visual arts to examine the common connection we have when grieving. I think it's a beautiful intersection of worlds.
If you could have dinner with one historical figure or artist (could be Michelangelo, David himself, or someone else), who would it be and what would you ask them?
I'm not sure? I want to say a famous artist or political figure, but I'm not completely sold on that. I feel as if I draw on contemporary artists a bit more than artists from the Italian renaissance. I do, however, hold the (perhaps unpopular) opinion that Gian Lorenzo Bernini's "David" is the superior of the Davids.
But- if I had to choose, I'd have dinner with a table of folks- both living and dead, real and fictional- Virginia Woolf, Michel Foucault, bell hooks, Judy Chicago, J. R. R. Tolkein and Éowyn, Šárka (from the Czech legend), Catherine the Great, Mary Stuart, Antonin Artaud (cause that guy was so wild), Dame Maggie Smith, Bea Arthur, Tracey Emin, Helen Frankenthaler, and, of course, Artemisia Gentileschi. I'm not sure where I'd seat everyone, but I think it would be a pretty stellar dinner party (Judy Chicago pun intended).
I don't think I'd have to prescribe any conversation- I'd just like to be a fly on the wall...
What was your first reaction when you read the script [for Destroying David]?
If you'd have asked me the same question before Amanda was cast- I was reading the script from a father's perspective- I probably would have given you a different answer. You's story is changed on a fundamental level when exploring the relationship of a mother's grief versus a father's (not that one is more or less than, just different). The ideas that You explores throughout the script focus heavily on the balance of creation and destruction- how apropos that we're witnessing a woman who created the life of her child cope with grief through destruction?
The reaction I had to the story completely changed with the casting. It's become a bit more real? Something that hits a bit closer to home- watching a woman on stage move through her grief- it became more familiar in a way. I'm not sure that answered the question, but I'm sticking with it.
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