The Workshop allowed for experimental productions and audiences which the Main Stage Shows couldn't tolerate. It is hard to imagine now that 30 years ago an All Black Cast in a Racially Motivated Production were considered too radical for a General Audience. In fact some of the long-time members of the WCT Board and Staff refused to be associated with this production.
Enter... Myself. I had no such qualms and MARY JANE TEALL latched onto that and I was tapped to design not just the Setting but the Costumes as well. I leapt at the chance and ran with it. The result was nothing short of amazing and led to my being hired to design the next 3 seasons of WCT.
At the top is my scaled elevation of the existing Workshop stage, little changed from the 1932 version. I persuaded Ms. TEALL to allow me to add a thrust platform to the existing stage, just a step lower to bring the play forward into the audience. This had never been attempted in the Workshop space before. Two platforms a step higher than the main stage on both right and left allowed for a multi-tiered set in which each of the six cast members could have their own space. Stools, benches and small blocks which were moved by the actors as needed completed the design. The Groundplan shows the extension of the stage as I envisioned it.
The two photos at the bottom were taken recently in the Workshop Building. Very little has changed since I designed this production in 1981. The space is still being used today to stage a wide variety of productons.
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