"We began with powerful images of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, and Hurricane Matthew in 2016. These were initial images that we showed to Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty even before they agreed to let us do the show. From moment one, we wanted strong, honest research to provide a foundation and context for our exploration of a retelling of Once On This Island."

"Michael Arden and I travelled to Haiti last April for research and auditions. We were well into the design process at that point, but the trip had an immediate and significant effect on the work we were doing," notes Laffrey. 

"From a research standpoint, it was invaluable. We left Haiti with hundreds of images that my team, and every builder and artisan who worked to create the set, referred to constantly. We also had some experiences, particularly involving Haitian Voudou practice, which couldn’t be photographed but left an inedible impression. The trip had a profound effect on the production and we’re incredibly grateful to have a producer like Ken Davenport who saw how essential that would be and made it happen."

"The clear goal with this design from the outset was to create a vibrant, detailed, and consuming theatrical world. Michael and I both wanted to craft an experience. Circle in the Square is inherently an immersive theatre space, and we wanted to play to all of its strengths and allow the experience of the piece to begin from the moment you walk through the door," Laffrey explains. "The set isn’t something you look at in a frame, it’s all around you. You might be sitting next to a felled electrical pole, or an upended tractor-trailer."

"I had never seen the show in production," replies Laffrey when asked about any influence from prior versions. "I know what the original looked like and had the great pleasure of meeting Loy Arcenas, who designed the original Broadway set, at one of our early previews. I suppose because we had such a clear picture of the kind of work we wanted to make, and because it felt fundamentally removed from the original, I didn’t give a lot of thought to its design legacy."

"I collaborated significantly with costume designer Clint Ramos. We shared the responsibility for building a cohesive world, and then a vocabulary for storytelling within that framework," explains Laffrey. "We worked very closely on the pre-show environment, establishing the lives of the storytellers: who are they, what are they doing in this world when we meet them, how does this community work? etc."

"We also had innumerable conversations about how the storytelling vocabulary shifts once Timoun arrives in the city. We posited that since she moves beyond the immediate world of the storytellers, we had more imaginative license to reflect something more fantastical with darker reverberations of a colonial past, which comes across both in surprising changes to the environment and the clothes," Laffrey notes.

For Laffrey, what drives the design is "a commitment to creating a fully-detailed 360° space, and to honestly reflect a specific place and time."

"I think the piece is ultimately about the profound power of storytelling," asserts Laffrey. "How it protects our past and galvanizes us as we build and rebuild. How it has the power to heal, to allow us to transcend present circumstance."

"The only automation in the show controls the kabuki drop during 'Sad Tale of the Beauxhommes,' and the raising of the felled electrical pole at the end of the show," Laffrey points out. "It was designed by PRG and controlled by their systems. It was important to me that the pole be raised on hemp line, so they cleverly retrofitted a stage winch to do that."

"I hope that the scenic environment truthfully reflects a world that badly needs its stories. I hope it frames the lives of our storytellers faithfully. I hope it immerses the audience in a world that is both transporting and eerily familiar," concludes Laffrey. "I hope that it overwhelms you a bit, and that when you leave the space, you too feel you have been on a journey."