![\"The](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/CLOUD-9-2.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cCloud 9\u201d is a two-act play that takes place in British colonial Africa and in a park in 1979 London, in which actors play one role in the first act and another in the second act. Characters in both acts are portrayed by different actors and in some cases, men and women are cast in reverse roles, providing significant challenges for the actors on stage. The play won a 1982 Obie Award for best play of the year in New York.<\/p>\n
Brown says set design for the play also offers a challenge \u2013 creating a rural Africa setting during the Victorian era that is transformed during intermission to a location in 20th-century London. It is something Brown has done himself for a production of \u201cCloud 9\u201d elsewhere, and this prior experience helped him provide advice to Kacey Skurja \u201915 (SFA), an undergraduate student in scenic design who had the assignment for the production.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know what works, what doesn\u2019t work, but we keep quiet on what doesn\u2019t work in the hopes that the student designer will discover something we would not have thought of,\u201d Brown says. \u201cI think that happened with this show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cardinal agrees: \u201cThe set design for \u2018Cloud 9\u2019 is a challenge for any designer, as it leaps continents and centuries without textual explanation. Kacey has done a terrific job with finding striking visual similarities between the two locations, enhancing the comedy\u2019s themes and illuminating the story\u2019s context.\u201d<\/p>\n
The set design for \u2018Cloud 9\u2019 is a challenge for any designer, as it leaps continents and centuries without textual explanation. — Vincent Cardinal, artistic director for CRT<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The 100-seat Studio Theatre is an intimate setting, with audience seats just a few feet from a narrow proscenium stage. Skurja had the responsibility of designing the set and coordinating her work with the lighting and costume designers and other members of the creative team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was kind of nervous, but excited about the opportunity,\u201d Skurja says. \u201cIt was really hard. It was difficult to have enough scenic elements to make both places with the space provided and our budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skurja\u2019s design incorporates the Union Jack, the national flag of the United Kingdom, as an element on the floor of the stage. African grasses in the first act are transformed into hedges for the second act, a tree becomes a lamp post, and a porch turns into a park gazebo.<\/p>\n
Brown says encouraging students to take risks, allowing them to make mistakes and work through the problem, is an important part of the learning process.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to mess up, but that\u2019s the best way to learn,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s great about CRT. I\u2019m here to catch you and help fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skurja says that as she moved through the design process, she encountered some unexpected issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did take a lighting class and a costume class, but I wasn\u2019t as aware as I should have been about some things,\u201d she said, during a break in directing the set construction. \u201cFor example, my porch is really tall, and I didn\u2019t think about how that would affect the lights. I learned yesterday you have to put sealers on stuff because the paint is going to run off on costumes, which I never thought of. And spacing \u2013 walking between the porch and the swing, you have to be aware of what they have to walk through. It\u2019s hard to figure out on paper what it\u2019s going to look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skurja says it\u2019s gratifying to hear supportive comments from the actors and technical staff she has worked with over the past several weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard a lot of people walk in and go, Wow!\u201d she says. \u201cEverybody loves it. I hope everybody still loves it later. It\u2019s awesome to see people\u2019s reactions.\u201d<\/p>\n