BABES IN HO-LLAND, SHOTGUN PLAYERS (2024)

DORM-ROOM LIFE AND OVERCAST SKIES. 

​​

Denneen Reynolds-Knott's Babes in Ho-lland centers on three college students navigating financial hardship and generational trauma at a predominately white institution. Ciara and Kat are roommates at the University of Pittsburgh in the Winter of 1996. Ciara meets Tarryn, a student who is on the brink of homelessness. In bringing Tarryn into the dorm Ciara, confronts the difficulties of student life and an institution that exploits them.

​​​​​

The consensus was that the text called for a naturalistic space in which one could really observe what felt like a necessity to each student. Leigh Rondon-Davis and I agreed that what the characters did with the space felt a lot more crucial than the dorm room itself.  In such a minimal space, there is a struggle to hold on to their individuality and dignity which they create through taping images on the walls, moving furniture to create boundaries, and sneaking others into that space.

Then, there was the motif of the sun, or the lacktherof. The text highlights an adjustment period where the students experience 30 days of overcast weather. It is not until Tarryn leaves the institution that the character is able to see the sun. It felt fitting that the room be filled with different kinds of lamps and that the space be reflective of the fact that any sort of warmth in the show seems to be student made or student bought.  The stakes rise with a poorly designed room and a single window. A claustrophobic room that balances between individuality and survival.

​

​