Anderson ’98 Garners Praise for Midsummer Night’s Dream Set

A full-page feature article in the Jan. 22 Los Angeles Times praised designer Cameron Anderson ’98 for her work for South Coast Repertory’s new production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Calling the scenic design “striking,” reviewer Charlotte Stoudt also praised Anderson for her use of light. Director Mark Rucker was quoted, also: “‘Usually you get to the forest and that’s it, visually, for a couple of acts. … But Cameron found a way for the forest to continually transform,’” he said.

Anderson, who works in both theater and opera set design, explained, ‘”The fairies are constantly stealing things in the play and repurposing them, like umbrellas,’ says Anderson. ‘Our trees are Plexiglas covered with thousands of love notes and book pages that the fairies have stolen. When the trees are backlit, they glow. They can also fly in and out depending on where we are in the forest. There’s also a ramp made of drawers, out of which fairies pull their loot.’”

See her full portfolio on her site, where you’ll also find The Seattle Post-Intelligencer praising her design for Cosi Fan Tutti as “[V]ery simple but quite dashing in its visual appeal… and the garden of the last act in which the high ‘bushes,’ providing handy exits and entrances, resemble a Richard Serra sculpture, in a rococo mood, wrapped a la Christo. All quite delicious and amusing.”

Additionally, Anderson notes that “Other upcoming productions include Gianni Schicchi, Les Mamelles de Tiresias, and Seven Deadly Sins at Central City Opera, West Side Story at the Vancouver Opera, West Side Story at the Kilden Performing Arts Center in Norway, and Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.”