The Moors

by Jen Silverman - University Theatre in Fayetteville, AR - 2022

When I first read The Moors, I was immediately drawn into the stark power dynamics of the characters. I often felt like the dialogue was reaching through time to punch me in the stomach. Both the women and the beasts of the wild moor landscape evoke aspects of unbalanced human relationships that many people find all too familiar. The text is very clear that while the setting is in the past, The Moors is a play about today. I worked very closely with director Lacy Post to decide how to immerse the audience in the 1840s while keeping the story contemporary, relatable, and theatrical. It was important to me that an audience member would be able to penetrate the period trappings of the show and see people they recognized. We chose to take inspiration from drag, specifically the same exaggerated, cherry-picked approach to femininity. The human characters ‘perform’ the period and the animal characters ‘perform’ their animal nature in that same style, reminding the audience that the period is a tool being used to tell a present-day story.

Directed by Lacy Post | Costume Design by Callie Lythgoe | Assistant Costume Design by Mercy Embree | Scenic Design by Beth Shambo | Lighting Design by Austin Bomkamp

Photos by Austin Bomkamp, Callie Lythgoe, and Alex King