FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — In life, things are rarely black and white; and, as one University of Arkansas set designer understands, the often-mistaken purity and simplicity of an all-white set design can be most influential to the tone of a play.

UA graduate student Adam Miecielica, 28, has been chosen as a participant in the Prague Quadrennial, an international competitive exhibition of scenography and theater architecture. He was selected for his set design on Big Love, produced at the university in November 2005.

“This award is important to me because I will be able to put my work up with not only some of the best designers in this country but some of the best designers the world has to offer,” said Miecielica, a drama major in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. “This will be a great educational experience that can only make me a better set designer by seeing how others around the world push the limits of creativity by exploring different ways of communicating and supporting the meaning of a theatrical piece through visual imagery.”

The Prague Quadrennial is one of the leading worldwide events for the theater design community. In 1967, it was created to lessen the cultural gap caused by the Cold War by bringing together theater artists from around the world for a cross-cultural exchange of ideas. Today, thousands of set designs from innovators in more than a dozen countries are displayed. Scenographic designers, directors, students and community members from around the world will gather at the Industrial Palace in Prague to witness creations on the forefront of theater design and attend seminars and workshops.

Miecielica exhibited his set design for Big Love at the annual United States Institute of Theatre Technology conference held in Louisville, Ky. More than 130 students, professors and professional designers displayed their work at the conference. Present at this conference were curators of the U.S. National Exhibit of the 2007 Prague Quadrennial, and interested conference participants could have their work considered for the exhibition. Miecielica’s suggestive, European-inspired design caught the attention of the curators, and he will now join some of the most accomplished and gifted set designers from around the world in Prague.  

Miecielica said his inspiration for the set came from the script itself. Big Love, written by Charles Mee, is a modern adaptation of Aeschylus’s The Suppliants. The story centers on 50 Greek sisters who flee to Italy in hopes of finding consolation after arranged marriages to their 50 cousins. The switch between reality and memory crafts a dreamlike atmosphere, which Miecielica captures with the austere all-white background.

He chose white because, because the connotation of innocence and purity is juxtaposed with the culpability of the runaway brides. In the end, as a means of true escapism, the brides murder their grooms. At this point, he added red to the all white and black color scheme by dropping rose petals on stage, simultaneously alluding to death and love.

“The script is the blueprint for any design,” Miecielica said. “The world I created completely enveloped the actors on stage, creating a feeling of being trapped, just like the characters in the play.”

Michael Riha, associate professor of set and light design at the University of Arkansas, and Miecielica’s mentor, says that Miecielica’s success as a designer stems from his ability to interpret the script.

“He has an incredible imagination,” Riha said. “He really tries to tell the story.”

Miecielica is in his third year as a UA graduate student and is working on his master of fine arts, emphasizing set design. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in theater from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. While designing scenery as an undergraduate, Miecielica received two Certificates of Merit in Scenic Design from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival. His set design for Big Love will be published in the fall issue of Theatre Design and Technology magazine.