Dan Mellitz

Abundancia takes place in 1996 Rural Cuba. The design came out of many of the words  and phrases that I was given by the writer about his home in Cuba. "Cold Tile", "prison like feel", "Oppressive Heat", "Fenced in", "hyperrealism" and more. Many of the houses I came across in my research were square in style. And I wanted to give the audience the feel of that layout. But, I was also given the directive that they did not want this in a traditional procenium space, they wanted it in a Thrust style, which make me have to think more about walls and how to make the audience understand and get that feeling. 

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This is where the idea of the raised ground plan came from. It showed the idea of the rooms, and the small sizes of the spaces, and how close everyone was with each other, but also allowed audiences from all sides to see the action on stage. This also meant doors would be a problem.  So the doors are gone on purpose, but the main entrance door is still there because it represented the division between the world outside their home and inside, especially in 1996 and the time of Fidel Castro. 

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Everything would be as real as possible, with cool tile on the ground, running water where needed, and a working TV in the living room.