Van M. Tinkham, scenic designer

Van Tinkham (Scenic Designer) is from Ogden, Utah, where he is the scenic and lighting designer for Weber State University. He also has taught design and theatre technology at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, Western State College of Colorado in Gunnison. His designs have won regional and national awards at the American College Theatre Festival. Among his recent lighting or scenic designs at WSU are As You Like It, Our Country's Good, God's Country, and Carousel. Having earned his M.A. from Indiana University in the mid-1970s, Van continued a long association with the Department of Theatre and Drama, taking classes over the past thirty years, supplemented by his life experience and professional work, having designed over 80 productions in the professional and educational theatre. His scenic design for Lysistrata is his thesis production.

Notes on Lysistrata's Scenic Design

Ranjit Bolt's script is delightfully direct, cut to play quickly, and contemporized in speech and at the same time retains its Greek characters, place references, and action.
      The arrangement of the space is a slightly skewed interpretation of a Greek theatre space, seemed to fit the action, and the original plan altered very little during the design process.
      The look of the set came to be through a more lengthy process to reflect the city-under-siege atmosphere of the original and include scaffolding, as if the structure of the building/city needed support and was under repair (by women who were not necessarily trained in construction). The scaffolding also could allow for more contemporary simultaneous movement and action while supporting the needs of the play for entrances, barred doors, an upper level unattainable for the men, and an entrance from the celebratory banquet at the play’s conclusion.
      Visual choices were made to distort the grace and geometry of ordered Greek architecture (who could ever suppose women could run a city!) in much the same way Aristophanes’ happy idea turns social norms topsy-turvy. The elements of line and color emphasize comedic curves and provide a warmly colorful, war weary, but subdued background for characters and costume.

Set Model for Lysistrata by Van M. Tinkham (Click on image for larger picture in new window)
The set is designed with a slight rake, which is emphasized in this view from above. Most of the set is shown here: on stage left is the "home" of two tramps, who view the action and provide telling commentary; the center shows Tinkham's modification of the Greek theatre's "orchestra," where the choruses dance, sing, and chant their lines; on stage right is an area used as Pan's Grotto, where Myrrhina seduces her husband.	This view of the set model gives a sense of the scale, distortion, damage, and repair that sets the tone for the comedy, helps tell the story of Athens at war and under attack, and supports the action of the play.
Scenic designer Van Tinkham (green shirt) confers with lighting designer Becky Hardy on the set of Lysistrata, January 29, 2003.	The crew from the scenic studio works on the upper sections of Van Tinkham's set for Lysistrata, January 29, 2003.
A week before opening, the crew puts the finishing touches on the set for Lysistrata.

Where to go:

Notes from director Noah Alexis Tuleja
Designs and notes from costume designer Amanda K. Bailey

Lysistrata page
IU Theatre and Drama home page
Indiana University Bloomington home page