Color in the lighting and video is how they move the play in and out of reality

"So the question became, 'what's our neutral space?' James suggested that it should feel like a gallery, that being the "natural habitat" of the characters," says Riggs, whose idea for using nine custom fixtures made of one four-ft. standard lighting track and three 90W PAR 38 track heads came from the gallery concept. "That's also why each section of track lights was mounted to a white ceiling fragment," he explains. "We didn't want any ambiguity about the track lights being a scenic choice; we've all done plenty of downtown shows where track lights ARE the house inventory."
The white benches also echo the gallery idea and are used as surfaces for light or projection but could also be 2D or 3D objects of art. "They also gave Ianthe and Natalie the super-flexible palette they needed for the fluid staging that Ianthe already knew she wanted," Riggs points out, noting that he, Hunting, and Demos had worked together in the past: "Ianthe, James, and I benefit from a long history which has given rise to a very useful shorthand vocabulary," he says. "There's no substitute for knowing, trusting, and liking your collaborators."
Riggs' lighting design is all about "no color" except when it isn't, as he explains: "I used four Chroma-Q Studio Force Compact V photographic LED fixtures as the primary front light." His first experience with these fixtures, as it happens, and they provided what he hoped for, including a camera flash effect. "Shifting those to a cooler color, and boosting the cool white cross-light while dimming the warm white track fixtures,Solar Garden Lighting – The Next Generation Of Lights For Your Gardens,takes us to our more clinical spaces: the hospital, Sally's hospice," Riggs adds. "I wanted color to have a big impact when it's used, which happens with decreasing subtly as the play goes on and the characters succumb to their less-virtuous instincts more readily."
Color in the lighting and video is how they move the play in and out of reality. "The whole play, with the exception of the first and last moments, is a flashback," explains Riggs. "So my rhythm isn't really about "now" vs. "then." Instead, the lighting departs from that "normal" state—somewhere along the white-light spectrum—when the characters get more introspective and less guarded.This happens early on to reinforce the almost magical allure of the pool. Later (and less subtly) it happens to punch up the characters' descent into unconcealed envy, and to help us follow the characters' path through their drug trips."