Grant Sabin, set designer for SWEET TEA, discusses trees as a foundational basis for his research into the set design for the production.
As I’ve been pulling up visual research of the South, I am drawn to these beautiful images of majestic hundred year old oaks. Striking markers of time, anchoring use to the setting of the South, their roots firmly planted into the southern soil. So too, are the lives and stories of the men in Sweet Tea.
I would like to incorporate these trees as a base for the scenic design, along with weaving in the important element of the Southern church and relics from the lives of each character. Inspired by C.C.’s statement about his religion, “ Mine is really a church without walls”; I hope to achieve the effect that the large upward branches create the walls of this religious room; pulling our eyes upward to the abstracted stain glass canopy, created by elements from each life.
I’m looking forward to working further with our creative team to bring to life Sweet Tea .
