“Created a close, intimate environment”

“Shawn Lewis’s simple set design (with the audience lining either wall and large ornate rugs acting as the stage, creating an ‘in the round’ effect) and Ethan Steimel’s lighting created a close, intimate environment. That only became a problem during swordplay, when large broadswords swished only a few feet from those seated along the walls. But fight director Aaron McDaniel did an exemplary job of ensuring no one felt vulnerable.”