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Mr. Bradley designed recently AN IDEAL HUSBAND for the Milwaukee Rep. during the 1997/98 season. In 1994 he designed the world premiere of Steve Martin's PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE for the Steppenwolf theatre, which recently finished its London premiere. In 1996 Mr. Bradley won New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design, New York Outer Circle Critic's Award for design collaboration and a Tony nomination for his design of August Wilson's SEVEN GUITARS. Regionally he has designed for the Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre Seattle Repertory, Indiana Theatre Repertory, American Conservatory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre and Arena Stage. Mr. Bradley is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
"In evoking the atmosphere of Venice for our production of SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS, a pair of arched double doors is slowly opened to allow a gondola full of actors into an awaiting pool of water in the middle of a small square.
After docking, they quickly disembark and begin unloading their props and unfolding their stage from the deck of their seaworthy vessel. Upon the completion of the 17 foot square stage, the masts are anchored to a balcony to hoist the canvass portal and scenic curtains into place; the costumed characters of the comedia dell'arte troupe burst through the center split of the first scene in Pantalone's home, and the play begins."
"Having taken photographs round every corner of the Venetian streets and canals, I began to culminate some typical environmental tangibilities for the set design of "SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS". First of all were the ever-present crumbling walls and cracked cement skins of the exterior walls. Each facade of the squares had a unique quality about the surface texture and colors whether there were hairline cracks or puzzle pieces of missing surface layers and whether the hues were of gold and orange or made up of patinas of dirty pink stains over grays and greens. Next was the influence of Moorish and even Arabic architectural embellishment especially in the window silhouettes and balcony details. I continually found new examples of hinges and louvered shutters, ironwork and woodcarving. Finally the quality of light that fit down between the narrow street hallways and reflections that bounced across the steep walls of the canals were mesmerizing as I saw sun set between the vertical slits of sky here and there. All of these details have found their ways into the set design that is reminiscent of eighteenth century Italy: upon arrival into the theater, one encounters the terminal of a canal dock in front of huge wooden doors waiting for a boatload of comedia dell arte actors and their own traveling theater."
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