The White Album 2018

In “The White Album,” director Lars Jan embarks on the timely theatrical adaptation of Joan Didion’s seminal autobiographical essay. The play traverses the turbulent landscape of the late 1960s, with The Black Panthers, student protests, The Doors, Manson, etc., so the stage design needed to be as unobtrusive as possible. The rectilinear container of 26 x 16 x 12 feet, slightly skewed on the sides, challenges its own symmetry and that of the theater. With a 3-foot-deep intrusion and extrusion on each side, the design allows for inconspicuous access, egress, and room for theatrical artifacts. The incorporation of an exterior terrace fosters a continuous relationship between the interior and exterior, reminiscent of the domestic scale where Didion’s narrative unfolds. The structure’s functionality prioritizes simplicity, swift assembly, economic use of resources, and easy maintenance, reflecting a commitment to a versatile traveling performance that is planned in at least five U.S. cities. Using a triangular truss system by Stereobot, the design conceals its technical versatility to create an ethereal environment for this much-anticipated theatrical adaptation of one of America’s most incisive, essential narratives.