Scene Shift: U.S. Set Designers in Conversation

This book showcases contemporary US set design by engaging designers with one another, pairing dialogue and imagery from varied experiences and practices. Within these pages, we witness an expansion of traditional theatrical set design, evolving fluidly to include such work as performance art, installation, community events, and exhibitions, to name a few.

The design and the designer have a story to tell that goes beyond the immediate collaboration. Readers get an intimate perspective providing insight into a somewhat mysterious world that has been under-valued and under-evaluated. The conversations include designers who are commercially successful, artistically successful, and those who have existed on the fringes of the theatre world whose work is not necessarily definable, and therefore not as visible.

These thirty designers provide the next generation a view into a variety of career paths while also validating and encouraging an appreciation of their diverse artistic accomplishments.

Maureen Weiss is a scenographer and an Associate Professor of Performance Design and Technology at Alfred University, USA.

Sibyl Wickersheimer is a set designer and installation artist. She is Associate Professor of Set Design at USC School of Dramatic Arts, USA.