The Road to Illumination Interview with Peter Kaczorowski


Ted Sod, Education Dramaturg, talked with lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski about his design for The Road to Mecca.


Ted Sod: What are the challenges of designing lights for The Road to Mecca?


Peter Kaczorowski: Well there are several, and Fugard is rather specifi c about them. First of all, the play begins at the very end of the day with just the low-angled rays of the setting sun invading the house. Then, just a few pages into the play, he describes how “the light is fading” in the room…and then a few pages after that he says “the light is now faded.” So there’s no more sunlight. The fi nal 70% of the play takes place in dark night. Additionally, the house in which the play takes place has no electricity. So it’s a pitch dark night in the South African desert…no moonlight (at least for a while) and no other ambient light sources outside (because she lives in the middle of nowhere). Inside, there are only a few kerosene style lanterns and then of course all the famous candles. So it’s with just these lanterns and all the candles that the actors will be illuminated.


TS: How true will you be to the stage directions?


PK: I think we all mean to be generally true to the author’s stage directions. After all, we are not doing a high concept rendering of this play. Michael Yeargan has designed a real house as requested by Fugard. And I intend to make the play happen in the time frame he suggests, i.e., “last bit of sunset into evening.” And we all will do our best to do justice to Fugard’s specifi c directions about the candles and the ambience they give to the room when all are lit.


TS: What kind of research did you do in order to design The Road to Mecca?


PK: Well, I did not know much about the actual woman the role is based on or her art work. So I looked at her house (a real place in Karoo), and I researched her art a bit mostly to understand how her brain worked. And I also got a sense of


14 ROUNDABOUTTHEATRECOMPANY


NEVER LIGHT A CANDLE CARELESSLY, AND BE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING WHEN YOU BLOW ONE OUT.


—ELSA, QUOTING HELEN


what the weather is like in that part of the world and what the natural environment is around the house. I also spoke with the director Gordon Edelstein and Susan Hilferty, the costume designer, who have both been to the place. And they described a very long drive to the middle of nowhere and the kind of solitude the place evokes. That in-person description of the remoteness of the location was helpful.


Rosemary Harris. Photo by Joan Marcus.


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