The sensation of the 2006-2007 theatre season in New York City is Tom Stoppard's epic trilogy, The Coast of Utopia, produced by Lincoln Center Theatre on the vast stage at the Vivian Beaumont. Directed by Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia spans three decades of European history with a cast of 44 actors playing 70 roles. Two set designers, Bob Crowley and Scott Pask, and a troika of lighting designers — Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner, and Natasha Katz — collaborated on the look of this sweeping tale of mid-19th-century revolutionary and intellectual life.
The Coast of Utopia has been extended through May 2007 with part two, Shipwreck, now in repertory with Voyage, and part three, Salvage, starting performances in February. “Load Out” will continue its coverage of this sweeping epic in the next two issues of Live Design.
— Ellen Lampert-Gréaux