JACKSON BERKLEY

Sound & Fury is the 2026 showcase of CUNY Creative Art Team’s awesome Youth Theatre program. The performances feature 10 vignettes that were devised by the students and young thespians participating in CATYT, with guidance from program director Helen White and her team. The vignettes addressed topics ranging from depression to fascism to systemic racism, all centered around the titular theme.

Being a devised show that did not have a formal script until late in the process, my process as the scenic designer required taking cues from the theme and from rehearsal videos Helen would share with me to come up with a set that would allow the young people to shine and provide enough visual language to guide their blocking as they moved around the set. The idea of a ruin came early on, and the tension between a decrepit chapel facade surrounded by blown-out concrete-and-rebar pillars — a staple of modern construction — seemed like a good way to evoke both past and present, holy and profane in one tableaux.

In addition to designing, I built the set with a small team, which allowed me to modify elements as they went up and ensure that the space provided ample room for the young people to perform unhindered. The other designers were fabulous, as well, and my associate Nicole contributed an awesome floor treatment with graffiti marks we designed together after watching the design run in the rehearsal.

I absolutely loved this show, and am excited for another opportunity to design for CATYT’s showcase in 2027.