American Idiot

For American Idiot on the Claire Trevor Theatre stage at UCI, the design channeled Green Day's raw energy into a visual world built on the tension between suburban monotony and urban decay, reimagined through a Southern California lens.

A concrete pedestrian bridge in Irvine linking campus to University Town Center sparked the central metaphor. Modular concrete forms and industrial elements created a stark, permanent environment that felt emotionally suffocating, mirroring a generation's disconnection and frustration in post-9/11 America.

We moved away from Broadway's heavy TV-screen concept and leaned into immersion. Elizabeth Barrett's projections became a kinetic layer, trading static media for visceral spectacle and fluid transitions so the emotional undercurrents of the score could sit inside a minimalist frame. The set stays unyielding while the characters fight to redefine themselves within it.