Gossamer

2018

Set, Lighting and Costimer Designer for "Gossamer" at Helen Gardiner Playhouse, Toronto

Written and Performer by: Jae Zhan Peng Tang

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Gossamer is a piece of site-specific Devised Theatre, written, directed, and performed by Jae Zhan Peng Tang, that walks the audience through a fantastical story about fairies, love, acceptance, royalties, and heartbreak. Inspired by the invents in their own life, Jae's character—Puck, the king of fairies—has been imprisoned in the dressing room of the Playhouse. Going along with the idea of fairies infecting the ground that they walk on and the walls that they live in, the set design and decoration for the piece was based on the concept of beautiful moments of nature popping out and growing out of man-made inventions that ultimately harm nature—such as the plastic from the hard hats. As a result, flowers grow out of seemingly random places, including the fairy's dress, essentially coming together in the corner of the shelf on top of the room to simultaneously act as a crown for them. A functional prop, the, the two pieces of gossamer also aid in creating a throne for the fairy, while simultaneously standing in for their  "wings".

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The lighting design for the piece has been inspired by a similar concept of beautifying the existing barren space. The purple hue of the LED light exactly matches the dress as well, standing in for the dress when the costume is played around with.