Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1982 - 12

by traveling around the world for five years." He does admit that
some teachers were influential in some ways: Floyd Wenninger
at Carnegie, James Maronek at Goodman, and Donald Oenslager at Yale, for instance.
While at Yale he began to work for Andre Gregory at the
Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia. Then lighting designer
Roger Morgan, a Carnegie classmate introduced him to Adrian
Hall. Yale friends also introduced him to Bob Kalfin at the
Chelsea who in turn brought him to the attention of Harold
Prince.
Lee has a special affection for the Trinity Square Rep Company. "I have something very nice and unique and wonderful in
Providence," he explains. He compares the encouraging atmosphere there to that of the best ensemble theatres of Europe. "I
can make a jerk of myself trying anything and I'll still have a job."
In Adrian Hall he sees a kindred spirit: "One of the reasons I've
stayed so long at Trinity is that Adrian is not interested in
pictures either. He's totally disinterested in what it looks like,
what the picture is. He cares what serves the piece best." This
atmosphere has allowed him to experiment and develop and is
probably what gives him the courage to try new things on
Broadway when he gets the chance. "No matter what I've done
elsewhere," he continues, "in theatre, television, or film, I
always did it first in some way in Providence." Few designersor playwrights or directors for that matter-have the luxury of a
hospitable proving ground. As a result, few do what Lee does.

Medium

Capacity

Date

The following
Stage
Stage
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Stage
Stage
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Stage
Stage
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Stage

chronology is incomplete.
Sets
May 16, 1966
Sets
September 13, 1966
S&C
December 20, 1966
Sets
September 28, 1967
Sets
October 5, 1967
Sets
November 2, 1967
Sets
December 7,1967
Sets
December 28, 1967
Sets
January 11, 1968
Sets
February 8, 1968
Sets
February 8, 1968
Sets
March 21, 1968
Sets
April 25, 1968
Sets
November 21, 1968
Sets
January 2, 1969
Sets
February 13, 1969
Sets
March 3, 1969
Sets
March 24, 1969
Sets
April 24, 1969
Sets
September 30, 1969

Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage

Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
S&L
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets

October 31, 1969
November 4, 1969
November 18, 1969
November 28, 1969
December 9, 1969
December 9, 1969
January 11, 1970
January 13, 1970
January 20, 1970
March 10, 1970
March 20, 1970
May 26,1970
October 8, 1970
October 14, 1970
October 28, 1970
November 18, 1970
December 4, 1970
December 30, 1970
February 17, 1971

Stage
Festival
Stage
Stage

Sets
Sets
Sets
Sets

March 24, 1971
August, 1971
November 1, 1971
December 20, 1971

Process
As might be expected, Lee is vague about his process. He
looks at a new project to see if it is one he would like to do. If it is
to be done with a director with whom he has not worked before
he wants to hear the ideas and approaches. The physical design
process involves models but rarely finished renderings. His
designs, of course, often do not lend themselves to renderings
and he claims not to do it well. He uses assistants but refers to
them as "collaborators." "I need people to have ideas. I'm not
good at giving orders." One current assistant, Matthew Jacobs,
Lee says, simply showed up at his door and wound up handling
the day-to-day work on Hammett.
Agnes of God is Lee's current project and serves as an
example. The play is an "acting piece" according to Lee and has
been done previously in some regional theatres (with other
designers). Set ostensibly in a psychiatrists office, the play takes
place in characters' minds and in the past and thus requires an
abstract setting. "It called for something simple-the show is in
the acting and the staging," explains Lee. The director and the
playwright told him not to use chairs, "so I dealt precisely with
chairs. I couldn't see it any other way. Then I convinced the
playwright and director. I have to have some kind of logic
somewhere in myself. I couldn't just design a set of abstract
platforms unless the director and playwright helped me a lot
more, told me more about the blocking. I can't just do levels and

Title

Theatre

Fitz and Biscuit
A Dream of Love
Beclch
Threepenny Opera
Threepenny Opera
Imaginary Invalid
HMS Pinafore
Importance of Being Earnest
Enrico IV
Delicate Balance
Years of the Locust
An Enemy of the People
Phaedra
Brother to Dragons
Macbeth
The Homecoming
Billy Budd
World War 2 1/2
Exiles
The Old Glory; Endicott and the Red
Cross; My Kinsman; Major Molineux;
Benito Cereno
The Recruiting Officer
House of Breath, BlacklWhite
Slave Ship
Harry, Noon and Night
Gargoyle Cartoons
Wilson in the Promise Land
Wilson in the Promise Land
Slave Ship
Skin of Our Teeth
Lovecraft's Follies
The Universal Nigger
Wilson in the Promise Land
Alice in Wonderland
You Can't Take It With You
Saved
Son of Man and the Family
Mother Courage
Taming of the Shrew
The Good and Bad Times of Cady
Francis McCullum and Friends
Threepenny Opera
Orghast
Troilus and Cressida
Down by the River where Waterlilies
are Disfigured Every Day

Circle in the Square
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Studio Arena Theatre
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Studio Arena Theatre
Studio Arena Theatre
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Studio Arena Theatre
Studio Arena Theatre
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Martinique Theatre
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.

Theatre of the Living Arts
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Theatre of the Living Arts
Theatre of the Living Arts
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Rhode Island School of Design Theatre
Theatre-In-The-Church
Arena Stage
Arena Stage
Brooklyn Academy of Music
ANTA
The Extension
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Chelsea Theatre Center
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Arena Stage
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity Square Rep. Co.
Trinity
Shiraz
Trinity
Trinity

Square at RISD
Festival
Square
Square

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 1982