A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Design Notes
Three houses stood at the center of the design for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: the home of Senex, the lively brothel of Lycus, and the worn, modest dwelling of Erronius. Each façade was rendered in a heightened, cartoon-like style that matched the show’s farcical humor while still carrying echoes of ancient Rome—a stage picture that instantly communicated comedy yet stayed rooted in a classical world.
To strike this balance, I looked to Greco-Roman pottery and decorative motifs. Columns and carved details appeared throughout the architecture, treated with playful exaggeration. The humor is quick and relentless, so the set needed clarity and flexibility—anchoring comic situations while transforming easily as the farce unfolded.
Each house held its own personality: Senex’s home suggested domestic order ready to unravel; Lycus’s façade leaned into flamboyance and theatricality; Erronius’s dwelling offered contrast in its simplicity. Together, the trio formed a visual shorthand for tangled relationships and chaotic schemes.
What tied the design together was its sense of exaggeration—architectural features pushed just far enough to feel humorous without tipping into parody. That blend of sophistication and whimsy created a world where mistaken identities, disguises, and comic chases felt perfectly at home, inviting audiences to laugh while appreciating the historical textures beneath the comedy.
