In November 2016 I was invited by Dr. Roberto Pomo from the CSUS Department of Theater and Dance to create the multimedia set for a stage production of In the Time of the Butterflies at the Playwright’s Theater, CSUS.
The play was written by New York playwright Caridad Svich. It is an adaptation of the novel by Julia Alvarez, based on the true story of the Mirabal sisters, political activists during the regime of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961. The sisters became national heroines and symbols of popular and feminist resistance. The United Nations General Assembly designated November 25, the day they were murdered, as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
The play deals with a country sliding into dictatorship and the devastating effects on its people. I received a CSUS Exceptional Assigned Time Award and collaborated with five undergraduate Studio Art students to create the computer-generated set. To enhance the play’s magical realism, the imagery employs nightmarish elements, dramatic lighting, and extreme shifts of scale. The animations were projection-mapped onto three walls of the theater, creating an immersive experience that reveals the psychological and emotional world of the characters.
Rommel Tuazon was lead student animator for the computer-generated animation, working with Christina May and Stephanie Gin. Ricardo Lopez and Michelle Lee created hand-drawn works. The playwright provided vivid descriptions for each scene, which we interpreted to develop the overall visual language and the imagery for individual scenes.
In fall 2017, we presented the project at the Crocker Art Museum for UCreate. The students discussed their creative process, methods, engagement with the content, and collaborative experience.
