SHEA O'NEIL

Barter Players

 Summer 2018

Written by Gwen Edwards

Directed by Katy Brown 

Costumes Designed and Made by Shea O'Neil

Lighting design by Mackenzie Mulligan

Set Design by Katy Brown

 

 

Billy, Goat, Gruff is an original production written by a former Barter Player. It is a wonderful retelling of the Billy Goat's Gruff but, of course, in a way only the Barter Players can do. Katy Brown wanted to keep this show very true to the heart of the script. She did not want a "children storybook" take on it, especially given that the show itself deals with death and longing for a missing parent. Katy was always very real with me about how children's theater can delve into the "patronizing" when it takes the cartoonish design while dealing with very heavy topics. I wanted to turn the actors into real-reading goats and make the troll very ominous and making him seem larger and scarier than he really was. The frog, from which the eyes and hat I took inspiration from an African street artist who makes art pieces out of random scraps, was a very fun and playful character that was the bridge to making the Troll not terribly frightening to the children. 

The "chorus" was inspired by images of villages and towns in the European Alps. Making them feel very rustic while still making them blend in with the world of the Goats, Troll, and Frog.