BILLY ELLIOT
Artistry 

Billy's World  

Billy is trapped in his world, caged in by a life he didn't choose and expectations about a future he doesn't want.  Pretty quickly, he bumps up against the edges of his world, rattling his cage. Billy's fight is set within another conflict: the 1984 Miners Strike, a clash between the coal men (and their families) and the state police.  This conflict was combative, marked by riot gear and barricades.  We are interested in this 'cage' or 'barrier' as the primary scenic element in the show.  Not a literal cage (though there are plenty of references to literal cages - a coal elevator is actually called a "lift cage"), but rather a space that has cage-like qualities.

Billy's world is also dark - the sooty, industrial mining town of Easlington in Northern England.  The coal mines are black and dimly lit. Vast and yet somehow claustrophobic. A black void feels like the right setting for our story.  We are interested in exposing the backstage area and theatrical apparatus of the Schneider Theater which has its own vast and industrial quality with a towering cinderblock back wall, exposed conduit, access ladder, winch motors, fly rig and gallery, and HVAC ducts.  Similarly we are interested in exposing the lighting booms and batons, sound equipment, and any necessary backstage equipment (changing racks, booths, props tables, etc). The goal here would be to embrace the machine of the theater as fully as possible.​​​​​