INTERVIEW INTIMATE AND ELEMENTAL: THE WORLD OF WEDDING BAND JASON ARDIZZONE-WEST, AWOYE TIMPO AND ARMINDA THOMAS IN CONVERSATION
Awoye Timpo and Arminda Thomas in Charleston, South Carolina. Photo by Jason Ardizzone-West.
During a break from rehearsals for Wedding Band, TFANA Artistic Associate Peter Cook convened a Zoom conversation with Scenic Designer Jason Ardizzone-West, dramaturg Arminda Thomas, and director Awoye Timpo to discuss the design process, which began with an October 2021 research trip to Charleston, SC.
ARMINDA THOMAS It was humid in October, which
AWOYE TIMPO We really started the design process
architecturally helped us figure out what the design would be. But also, we were like, oh, that's the energy that we want to integrate.
in Charleston. Jason, we probably chatted a bit before [that trip], just talking through the play. I can't remember where we had those conversations. Probably early-morning, 8:00 AM Zooms, like we like to do. JASON ARDIZZONE-WEST Yes, while I was walking
the dog, probably. AWOYE TIMPO But we knew that we wanted to go
to Charleston. That was the catalyst for our design conversations: “Let's go and walk around Charleston and see what it feels like, what's the energy of the place.”
is great. For some of us. [Laughter] And just the architecture... Charleston really doesn't look like most cities at all. It has a whole different feel to it, which I had not accounted for. AWOYE TIMPO Some of [the photos Jason took]
ARMINDA THOMAS I don't even know how Jason
saw anything before he started downloading from his camera, because all he did was snap, snap, snap. But we discovered—should we even say that? I shouldn't say that. AWOYE TIMPO Yeah, we should. ARMINDA THOMAS We discovered the benefits of
bringing a Jason along on a trip, because Jason would WEDDING BAND
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