Set Designer: Ken George

Approach: A Free Man of Color is an eclectic view blending cultural views, ideas, colors, and architectural textures.  Scenically a majority of the physical environment is placed in New Orleans in the very early 1800s. Other scenery changes take place in various places around the city as well as Washington D.C., Paris, France; and the unknown of the Louisiana Territory also known as the “white space.” 

The overall concept for the scenery of AFMOC is that of a deconstructionist view of culture, color, and texture.  The overall feeling and visual look of the set is that of a gritty, yet rich, historic environment, fragmented and layered with color, texture and a play with scale to reflect Cornet’s search for perfection as well as the kaleidoscope of French, Spanish, Native American, and Caribbean influences that have and continue to influence Southern Louisiana, New Orleans, and the country as a whole. 

Backwall: “The Doors of New Orleans”. Through these upstage doors--reflecting the various cultural influences that crafted New Orleans’s architecture-- will flow many of the outside influences of New Orleans (France, Spain, Santé Domingue, etc.). Center top is the entrance to Cornet’s boudoir.

The set is non-realistic with realistic elements, symmetrical with asymmetrical aspects helping to reflect the plays farcical tendencies and Paul Russell’s desire to reflect a melting pot environment and culture.  With the marriage of these line and scale ideas, radical colors, extreme textures, and multiple cultural styles, the scenery will allow for multiple entrances and environmental surprises reflecting a true “Laugh In” motif desired in the scenery design. 

Costume Designer: Corey Globke

Approach: The costume design for A Free Man of Color is a celebration of the diversity and eclectic atmosphere present in 1801 New Orleans. Beyond the direct celebration of a specific locale, the costumes also celebrate global diversity through the mixture of various ethnic elements which combine to create a three-dimensional collage. Through the use of color, texture, and embellishments the costumes clearly identify each cultural group visually.

Each specific group contains a controlled color palette which individualizes each country and enhances the overall collage-like feel of the design. These palettes include: The Spanish in black and gold, the French in cream, blue, and red, and the Americans in rich earth tones. The Spanish palette is a nod to the monochromatic Castilian palette associated with the Spanish Court. The French palette is a nod to the forced sense of patriotism created after the French Revolution. The American palette is created from colors that would have been present in the early Colonial landscape.

Although strongly based in historical research, the costume design applies the historical elements in a whimsical and stylized manner which supports the theatricality of the text. Such elements create a fanciful historical world that allows the audience to view various characters as the caricatures Cornet has painted in his mind. Such elements include a tarot card table dress for Josephine, rubber ducky epaulets for Napoleon, an exaggerated 18th century porcelain doll silhouette for the Infanta, and the crazy-quilted patchwork jacket for Murmur.

The energy of Mardi Gras will also be a key visual element of the costume design. The costumes for the Ball will create a visual kaleidoscope effect on stage with an explosion of color, reflection, and fantasy. The Mardi Gras costumes will recreate the celebratory nature of a bygone era in which highly embellished masks and costumes were worn to express the inner wants, wishes, and desires of the wearer.

Another key element of the design is the costumes for the ensemble. The look for the ensemble attempts to recreate the distressed palette and texture of New Orleans architecture. The palette is comprised of faded versions of the ethnic court colors to symbolize that the lower class is becoming shadows of their lands of origin. By containing a monochromatic palette, the ensemble is able to function as a unit while maintaining visual individuality through construction details.

Composer: Raul Gomez

Approach: Working on the music for A Free Man of Color I've found inspiration in the clash and interaction of the different cultural influences present in New Orleans in the early 1800s, both at the sociological and psychological levels. Our characters' personal journeys—especially Jacques'—reflect the journey of New Orleans as it searches for identity and acceptance, while its main components—the European and African—coexist but don't quite blend.

We're trying to stay true to the historically-accurate music of this era in a way that help tells the story. We want the score to have a "New Orleans flavor," which has brought up the challenge that what a 21st century audience perceives as "New Orleans sound" is not quite what was around back then. Brass bands, blues, ragtime, second line, Dixieland, etc. are all rather modern results of many decades of blending. What we are left with, back in 1801, is direct importation of European court and dance music (Mozart had only been dead for 10 years, Haydn is still alive), and direct importation of African sounds by slaves mainly from the Senegambia region. In a Mardi Gras ball, like the one at the top of Act 2, you could probably be dancing to a minuet played by a trio while the sounds of hand drums and chanting filter in from the streets through the windows.

Finally, the humor in Guare's text leaves room to have a little musical fun with a few of our characters and transitions, while the "epic-ness" of the journey offers plenty of chances for cinematic underscoring.