‘…Very good work by set designer Kate Rance, revealing exposed brick and framing the playing space with unfocused representations of Lewis’ work’
Talkin’ Broadway

Who gets to profit from the work of a artist who transgressed in order to create it? This controversial play by Terry Curtis Fox explores the themes of ownership, autonomy and the rules that society is prepared to bend for creative genius. The action centers around a nude photograph of a young girl, discovered after the photographer’s death and quickly proclaimed as his masterpiece.

The director, Avra Fox-Lerner and I developed a simple but effective set comprising a few deliberate elements. The bed, where the transgression originally took place is framed by a giant loft window and a contained loft set. This tableau sits unmoving in the upstage center, like an accusation to everyone who tries so hard to ignore it. The other, roaming scenic elements are all lightboxes that can be used both as functional objects in a photographer’s studio but also as seating for a museum, podiums in a gallery etc. Since the photograph that the controversy centers around is never actually seen, we made the decision to represent photography in the play in a very abstract way so as not to undermine its potency. To this end I created a series of oversized abstract nudes which surround the set and create a sculptural framework for the set but also mean that we can never fully escape the naked vulnerability that the photograph exposes.

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company of TRANSGRESSION, 2025