Beatriz Chung 

Penn State University 

1st year MFA 

​

 Beatriz Chung is a first-year M.F.A candidate in Scenic Design. Before moving to Penn State, she received her bachelor’s degree in sculpture from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and has twelve years of experience working with different theatre companies in Peru y Chile. Also works as an illustrator for children's books.

The Studio project of Macbeth was located in the Gala Theatre. In this particular space we have a very low ceiling, small entrances and a present truss to incorporate into the design. The reliefs on the roof have gorgeous concentric shapes that center your vision of the space.

The text of Macbeth for me has the feeling of a heavy weight falling on the characters, almost crushing their souls little by little, dragging the madness around the story, collapsing at the end. In that sense, my first image of reference was the Fingal's Cave on the isle of Staffa. This cavern place has patterns of rocks all over the place, and the singular shapes makes you doubt if it is a place made by men or by nature. I use these rhythms and textures to inspire my design.

The main idea was to incorporate levels to break the space and the symmetry of the stage and give multiple entrances to the actors, this way it is possible to maintain the fluency of the movement on stage. The second objective was to transform the space at sight of the audience, changing the distribution of the elements, rotating, pulling and pushing scenic pieces around. All part of the same, creating different locations: from the wild nature and cavern aggressive places, to castles and banquette dining rooms. The scenes when you read the story are always in motion, like a constant transformation fed with the passion of the guilt, desire and hunger of power.