Symbolism on Stage: The Visual World of Public Enemy
Renato Baldin
When I accepted the invitation from director Marcio Beauclair to design the set and costumes for Public Enemy, which premieres today at Alumnae Theatre, I had only a vague idea of the challenge ahead of me. At that time, I couldn’t realize just how deep the challenge would be.
The play takes place in a typical Canadian family home. During two family dinners separated by one year, three generations gather around the table to discuss the past, the present, family issues, and politics.
The script itself is built with a complex structure, with characters speaking over one another in a non-linear flow. Conversations come and go, emotions rise and shift, and the scenes move fluidly across time and many glasses of wine.
Each of the seven characters carries a distinct personality, but beyond that, they embody values and believes of our society that are unfolded by arguments, conflicts, and agreements culminating in the dismantling of rigid traditions from the past.
As a set and costume designer but also visual artist, my creative choices aim to go beyond average contextualization and embrace symbolic meaning. I look to the set almost as if the staging were an art installation in which the actors interact for bringing the action to life. In this sense, I see my design decisions as active participants in the drama. It is the material component to reinforce the actions and stories being told. For Public Enemy, was no exception.
The play, already staged in Montreal and Toronto, suggests a set in a realistic house, with scenes in the dining room and the living room. Two spaces placed on opposite sides of the stage and revealed through rotation, offering a fresh perspective each time. For this new version, which we’ve called the indie version, my challenge was to bring the elements that feature each environment and preserve the dynamic of rotating spaces, but on an extremely tight budget.
For a dinner, what more do you really need than a table, chairs, plates, cutlery, and wine, lots of wine! In the living room, you have grandma’s loveseat, the TV remote, and of course, the family’s bookcase full of books. These are simple objects, but together they create the right atmosphere.
Like Magritte, who painted a pipe but reminds us that “ceci n’est pas une pipe”, the real furniture, plates, even bananas, on this stage, are not what they were. Instead, they become theatrical supports, withdrawing from the scene so that the characters and their stories can take the spotlight. To achieve this sense, I painted all objects in scene to the same color. The color, a grayish green, evokes the family’s sickly state. The tone is not a neutral gray or sepia. It’s unique, authentic, but pale, like their ideals worn down over time even though they remain reunited at the table.
The house itself, a symbol of stability, prosperity, and privacy, is deconstructed and exposed, sustained only by the fragile metal framework of its walls.
Books, symbols of knowledge and culture, complete the set, encircling the stage. They were donated by people connected to the cast and, in real life, they are full of significance as real discarded objects by the owners. In the play, they shift in meaning: sometimes they’re a dismantled bookcase, sometimes a heap of abandoned things, and at other times, a sea of words and references shaping the values under debate.
The costumes, like the set, also carry symbolic weight, colouring the characters and deepening their narratives.
The matriarch, tied to traditional Canadian values, is aging and getting frail. Dressing her in an authentic Hudson’s Bay sweater, and seeing what that brand represents today, invites us to reflect on the impermanence of values that once felt fixed but now feel outdated. In the second act, set a year later, the iconic stripes are still there, but now on a worn-out, fast-fashion knockoff.
Her children, the second generation, remain influenced by traditional values but express their individuality and personal prosperity (or decline) in contrast to the past.
The grandchildren, the third generation on stage, begin with neutral black and white tones, seemingly a bit outside the family’s context, but already carrying recognizable cultural symbols from the country where they were born and raised. In the second act, their cultural identity remains, but now, it increasingly reflects their parents’ influence, continuing the cycle of intergenerational repetition and innovation conflict.
Suzie, the only character outside the nuclear blood family, enters in the second act, taking center stage and driving the dismantling process forward. The vibrant red costume highlights her strength and presence, while also signaling her attempt to claim belonging by reinforcing both old and new conservative values. She wears one of the colours of the matriarch’s sweater but also from the Canadian flag.
There are other stage and costume elements I could describe more here in details, but I’d rather leave you with the clues above to discover for yourself and share your impressions after seeing the play at the theatre.
Come see Public Enemy from September 24 to October 5 at Alumnae Theatre and let me know what you found and what you think. Tickets are available now on Alumnae Theatre’s website.
Special night: On Friday, September 26, playwright Bobby Theodore will join us for a post-show talkback about this play widely considered a Canadian masterpiece.
*Photos by Marco Novaes and Renato Baldin
Public Enemy by Olivier Choinière and transadapted by Bobby Theodore
Directed by Marcio Beauclair | Produced by Robyn Shepherd
Set and Costume design by Renato Baldin
Cast: Janis Boase, Kimberley Ann Croscup, Trevor Cartlidge, Valérie Carrier, William MacGregor, Jordan Kewell, Audrey Keating.