H o l l y M. B r e u e r
Scenic Designer & Painter
Winnie the Pooh Adapted from A.A. Milne by Kristin Sergel
Barter Players, Abingdon, VA Directed by Nathan Whitmer
Design Team:
Set - Holly M Breuer
Costumes - Ketti Shum
Lights - Sarah Elliot
The directorial approach for this production emphasized the use of actors as parts of the set and in the creation of setting while moving much of the offstage action on stage. The entire design team was influenced by the original book's illustrations by E.H. Shepard, but we also wanted to create a world that was uniquely our own as opposed to a presentation of a former style.
The forest in which Christopher Robin plays needed to be welcoming but also have the potential for hidden dangers - this is, after all, his story and young boys often seek adventure in less than safe environments. To that end, we created an illustrative world with desaturated colors which could conceivably be the represenation of Christopher Robin's memory of the forest. A movable multi level unit became central to our story-telling as the chorus of forest creatures moved it around to become different parts of the story as it was told.
Click on the image to see the Design Presentation.