KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The newest show at Clarence Brown Theatre is called "Trouble in Mind." It's a play set in the 1950s and puts conversations centered on race in the spotlight. At a glance, the stage for the production looks like it's still under construction, even though the design has been finished for weeks.
That's exactly what Scenic Designer Chris Pickart wants you to think.
"If we are doing our job, you don't notice us," Pickart said. "We are there to sort of put the play in the environment that it needs to be, and so the audience will take home what we hope they do."
For Pickart, who's been in the theater world for around 40 years, creating the set for the 1957 play "Trouble in Mind," meant paying attention to detail.
"One of the things we decided early on is that it had to be authentic," Pickart said. "We had to feel like we were in 1957, on 43rd and Broadway, walking into this space."
The setting is the backstage area of a theater. The play essentially shows a play rehearsal. Instead of using what they already had in the theater built in the 70s, Pickart took a different route.
"We needed to be in a separate place," Pickart said. "So with great expense, we took a theater and created another theater. With that in mind, it was important to me to sort of make things a little less comfortable."
The unfinished edge of the stage and the bones showing through underneath reveal the play's underlying message of race.
"What's unique about this play is there is a lifetime of feelings, and prejudices that live underneath and aren't really spoken about," Pickart said. "They're simmering, and over time, these things keep percolating, and bubbling up until finally, they reach the surface. It's heartbreaking, and it's gut-wrenching, but it's things that need to be said."
The four-time Tony-nominated play is a chance for audiences to sit back and embrace that simmer.
"I feel like it's a play people need to see," Pickart said. "While they are experiencing it, these thoughts will sort of creep up on them and take them by surprise. That, to me, is the gift a set designer can give is to allow the comfort for them to sit back, forget about the environment and absorb the story."
From the six months of planning for this massive set to construction, Pickart hopes his work blends into the background.
"It's complicated, but it's a labor of love," Pickart said.
The opening night for the play is Friday, Feb. 10. There are preview shows on Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
You can reserve your tickets online right now.