04.22.14

 

Reporter Erik Piepenburg writes the “Behind the Poster” series, a New York Times blog post that highlights theater artwork and the designers who make it. The series appears regularly in the Times’ ArtsBeat blog.

A simple web search led the reporter to the SullivanPerkins poster design for Gidion’s Knot, now showing at Kitchen Dog Theater.

As he wrote to Brett Baridon, senior designer, “I was looking around on the Web for some good poster ideas for my column, and came across yours.”

Gidion’s Knot centers on a parent-teacher conference about a child, Gidion, who has committed suicide. Although the story is about Gidion, he is absent from the play.

How do you design a poster for a play when the lead character is missing?

Brett positioned an empty chair in front of a blackboard, where a child’s profile has been chalked, a knotted tangle of lines inside the child’s head.

No wonder the Times’ was captivated. Better book your chair soon, for the performances at Kitchen Dog Theater. Gidion’s Knot closes April 26.