Victoria Sagady prefers to remain in the background. Literally. As a projection designer, she creates the backdrop and establishes tone without drawing attention to it. But with Sagady鈥檚 work on Broadway鈥檚 The Great Society at the Vivian Beaumont, she might have to settle for some talk.
Robert Schenkkan鈥檚 sequel to his 2014 Tony-winning All The Way picks up as President Lyndon B. Johnson runs a campaign to build his Great Society, and follows his term through the trials of Vietnam. Sagady鈥檚 projection design could easily be all archival footage but instead rarely uses video.
鈥淲hile we鈥檙e telling a very true story, we鈥檙e not a documentary in that sense,鈥� says Sagady. Rather, in collaboration with scenic designer David Korins and lighting designer David Weiner, Sagady wields static images to conjure the realm of LBJ鈥攆rom literal settings to the mood of the American public.
A countdown for 鈥淒ays Until the Election鈥� and then a tally of the 鈥淒ead in Vietnam鈥� cast hope or despair. Photos from riots around the country flicker in the framed walls of Johnson鈥檚 office. Eight versions of the Oval Office convey the state of the presidency. 鈥淎ll the images in the Oval Office get to more and more extreme angles, and the windows get more tilted as things get more hectic,鈥� Sagady says. 鈥淭he beauty is that the Oval Office can change tone.鈥�
WATCH: What to Expect From Broadway鈥檚 The Great Society
A border of 1960s television screens underscores the national timbre. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what the normal people are seeing,鈥� says Sagady of the onscreen visuals. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the violence on the news, the press conferences, the lies, things that are out of control. We鈥檙e living in LBJ鈥檚 little world, but there鈥檚 this whole other world outside of it looking in, and those TVs become a great window for expanding that view.鈥�
As Johnson鈥檚 presidency strains and devolves, so, too, does his world; the projections spill out of their contained frames and the images begin to splinter.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to really disassemble the visual world around LBJ,鈥� says Sagady. 鈥淗is world has to crumble. He can鈥檛 be safe. He can鈥檛 be contained and happy. He has to be ripped apart for him to reach the moment that he actually reached in real life. He has to lose it all.鈥� And Sagady鈥檚 work will be enough to make you lose yourself in his story.
