Out of My Fathers' House
Senior Capstone Project
Alfred University |2018
The location of the play is simply the yard of a house, with a clothesline and furniture strewn across the lawn. It is meant to be minimal, so as to create a number of different locations for each woman while remaining a uniformed and symmetrical setting. Each woman has her own designated space- a space she cannot leave. This creates a sense of confinement with its strict boundaries that is representative of each woman's struggle to push her way into the world. In contrast, the character of the Actress can move freely between the spaces, pointing to the advancement of woman's freedoms throughout history.
The placement of each lantern is the signal for the beginning of each woman's story, and the lanterns stay lit until the characters' last words. At the very ending of the show the lanterns all turn back on and, along with the clothes left in each space, show that the stories of these women and their accomplishments will continue to affect our lives today.
