The play is filled with ogres, killer fairies, evil cheerleaders and even a flesh-eating Jell-O mold! This ambitious piece presented numerous design and technical challenges. Over the summer, Director Nick Baer and performing arts faculty designers, along with guest costume designer Gaby Kuhn, collaborated to create the look and feel of the show, beginning by sharing a variety of ’90s era research images: D&D figurines and packaging, stills from MTV shows, album cover art and layouts from Ray Gun magazine, to name a few. With support from Latin’s Performing Arts Endowment, additional guest artists were brought in to assist with the effort. Mask and puppet maker David Knezz taught sculpting and papier-mâché techniques, helping the cast create their own masks for several fantasy characters. Fight choreographers Dave Gonzalez and Nicky Jasper were integral in developing the dramatic final sequence of the play, in which a five-headed dragon, operated by student puppeteers in the balcony, swoops in over the heads of the audience to do battle with the play’s hero.

Students worked in groups to research techniques, gather resources and collaborate with faculty and guest artists. One group created the Beholder, a grotesque giant eyeball that appears for a short but memorably hilarious moment. Another group created the five dragon puppets, working with Knezz through multiple iterations of sculpting techniques for the heads, as well as engineering puppeteering poles up to 22 feet long that were lightweight, yet nimble and durable enough to be operated safely above the audience. Another group created a giant cube of green Jell-O, using PVC pipes, pool noodles, and translucent plastic strips that could “swallow” a character whole. The last group created blood and gore effects, concocting gallons of “blood” from corn syrup, chocolate sauce and laundry detergent. This group also worked closely with Kuhn building fake arms that could be dramatically ripped off a character during each performance. Many of the particular requirements for these projects evolved as fights, blocking and concepts were refined in rehearsal. Through this process, stagecraft students learned the value of frequent, detailed communication with members of the production team and cast.