“Andrea Bechert’s stunning set makes a big impression when you enter the Mountain
View Center for the Performing Arts. It brings to life two backyards divided down the middle of the stage,
one with an immaculately manicured garden with topiary and an unnaturally regular lawn, and the other more
or less a patch of dirt, all possibility and nothing more, sheltered by a big friendly tree. These two yards
are, in a way, the stars of the show.”
“…before any of the principal characters ever appear on stage, Andrea Bechert's impressive
scenic design transports the audience to the Washington, D.C. suburb the playwright has imagined.
Bechert teaches design and technology at San José State University. If there are any students reading this who
want to learn about stagecraft, they should sign up for one of her classes. Bechert created the backyard
facades of two adjacent brick homes. They summon up the milieu of a stately East Coast neighborhood, and
what that neighborhood represents. These evocative two-story houses are so tall they reach up to the theater
rafters. One yard's manicured lawn is lined with purple iris and hydrangea. The window shutters are painted a
cheerful blue. The shutters on its twin next door have been neglected. Weeds poke up from the earth, and the
limbs of a giant oak tree stretch far and wide. When the characters do enter the stage from their respective
back doors, these exterior signs line up with the interior lives of both couples.”
“The set, by Andrea Bechert, is one of the most beautiful I've seen each yard a thing of
detailed wonder and full of realistic botanicals….”
