Scenic Designer Lawrence E. Moten III talks about his design process and the community workshops around Henry 6.

How did you start to think about the design for Henry 6?

We knew from the beginning that this production of Henry 6 would span multiple eras. Barry wanted to start more in a historical period and move through eras to become a commentary on current topics. The challenge in a design like that is to find scenery that can exist throughout multiple time periods while still maintaining the heart and soul of the piece. That ultimately means abstraction in some way, shape, or form. We also drew inspiration from Ming Cho Lee’s scenic designs for Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in New York in the 1950s and 1970s. Not to copy his work, but to be inspired by and honor it, and to push it into a vocabulary that felt wholly my own.

What other kind of research did you do?

We started by looking at architectural pieces that let us know we were in a Shakespearean world, but a Shakespearean world that could live throughout time. And what I landed on was the architecture of Gothic churches, of flying buttresses, of that style of architecture. We wanted to take advantage of the opportunity for height in the outdoor space. The beauty of Gothic architecture is that it feels so light and so airy, and it draws your eye up. 

So that shape of the Gothic arch, it’s actually a mathematical pattern, and there’s a way you calculate the dimensions. Our Gothic arches are mathematically correct the way they’ve been designed, which is a nerdy thing that makes me happy.

And then I took my own spin on that architecture inspired by hyper-modernism, Bauhaus, and brutalism. We took the shape of Gothic architecture but used entirely modern materials and textures to kind of smash-cut these two ideas together. The shapes and iconography solidly place us in the past, but then we use colors and textures and motifs to juxtapose that and bring us into the present.

What was the experience for you of leading the community workshops around the design of the show?

Wonderful. Terrifying. Kind of one of the greatest experiences of my life.

I think one of the great joys of the theatre industry is that we get to bring art to so many people. But I think one of the big negatives is that we don’t know the people who are engaging with our artwork. So it’s really joyous and gratifying to connect with community members who want to know more—and I’m  so grateful to The Old Globe for the opportunity.

I did two sessions each with two different groups to take them through my process as a designer, and then to invite them into the process. It was just—it was a room of joy. It was a room full of different generations, from people who have been coming to the Globe for 20 years to young people who wanted to know if they could have a career in theatre. I have one of the most gratifying jobs in the world. It’s a job I work at every day. It’s not always easy, but I’m never sad or upset that I chose this life, and to open up that door for as many as I can is really exciting.