THE CLEAN HOUSE

The Perfect Container: An Interview with Neil Patel

The Set Designer for The Clean House, Neil Patel, has an impressive list of credits and an eclectic array of designs in his portfolio.  He designed Sideman, 'Night Mother and Ring of Fire for Broadway. Off-Broadway his credits include productions at Second Stage, Manhattan Theater Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, BAM, New York Theater Workshop, Vineyard Theater and Playwrights Horizon, having designed productions of Living Out, Here Lies Jenny, Dinner with Friends, The Long Christmas Ride Home, Quills and The Grey Zone. His work with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company has been seen throughout the world, including the Holland Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Exit Festival in Paris and BAM. Awards include the 2000 EDDY Award, numerous Drama Desk nominations and the 1996 and 2001 Obie Awards for sustained excellence in set design.  Now, Arizona audiences will experience Mr. Patel’s work firsthand when his design for The Clean House fills our stages.  We asked him about some of his inspiration for this production.

ATC: What caught your imagination about this play?

NP: I always love plays that take advantage of the imaginative potential of the theatre stage. It is ultimately not a realistic or literal world which are the most interesting worlds to create on stage.

Act I set design for The Clean House by Neil Patel

ATC: The set for The Clean House is somewhat non-realistic.  Can you tell us about some of the ideas that you and director Jon Jory came up with in creating the atmosphere for this production? 

NP: We started with what the real house would be and what style of architecture it should be. We then talked a lot about how to create a white world which would not be a one note gesture but something that could evolve visually during the course of the play. Finally we talked about how the physical world of the house becomes fractured and transformed in the second act into an unreal and more psychological environment.

Act II set design for The Clean House by Neil Patel

ATC: What specific aspects of The Clean House script are you emphasizing and underlining with your design?

NP: The journey from clean and rational to messy and emotional. 
 
ATC: The script calls for an all-white set; what are some of the challenges of that?  What sort of collaboration must you create with the costume and lighting designers?

NP: I did not do an all white set. It is predominately white and I think the audience will think of it as a white set but I decided to use a lot of different materials and colors to give it visual variety and depth. White sets are famously difficult to light but can be very beautiful. The lighting and costume designer and I met early in the design process to decide what kind of whites to use and how to integrate color when necessary. There are many different ways to do white.

ATC: In looking at your work, you seem to have a particular talent for creating large, dramatic settings.  Do you prefer the grandiose to the ‘realistic’?  How is your creative process different with differing styles of production?

NP: It all depends on the play or opera. I sometimes do very realistic plays like Dinner with Friends [by Donald Margulies] in a realistic manner because that is what makes sense for the play. A set should be the perfect container for that which it contains. That is what I strive for.
 
ATC: Our patrons can see some of your work on your website (www.neilpateldesign.com). Can you tell us about some of your favorite designs shown there – or shows that challenged or tested your creativity in any way?

NP: I like all of these designs! They might want to look at some of the work I did with the SITI company to see a very particular kind of work that I do with that company of which I am a member. 
 
ATC: Is there anything else that you would like The Clean House audiences to be watching for (or thinking about)?

NP: They should enjoy themselves. It is a wonderful play!