A Year with Frog & Toad

This production of A Year with Frog and Toad, at CSU Chico’s Wismer Theatre, directed by Jami Miller, embraced both the natural environments of frogs and toads and the whimsical visual language of Arnold Lobel’s original illustrations. In this design, I sought to create a fully immersive world for both performers and audience – an environment that reflects the story’s central theme of enduring friendship and offers a sense of warmth, joy, and belonging.

As Scenic and Props Designer, I developed an in-the-round performance environment at an exaggerated scale that surrounded the audience within the world of the pond. The space was divided into seasonal quadrants, allowing the story’s progression through the year to unfold spatially as well as narratively. Billowing white voile “clouds” were suspended between these seasonal zones, providing dynamic projection surfaces and ensuring that every audience member experienced a rich visual backdrop while becoming part of the environment itself.

Scale played a critical role in reinforcing the characters’ perspective as small creatures within a vast natural world. Oversized flowers, towering cattails, expansive lily pads, and large leaves transformed the space into a tactile, storybook landscape… one that performers could inhabit fully. Additional sensory elements, including subtle environmental scents integrated throughout the space and into select props, deepened the immersive experience.

Collaboration was central to the project’s success. Costume Designer Lizzy Davis created eco-dyed silks that were integrated across costumes, scenic elements, and props. These unique fabrics were incorporated as snow, icy bark, autumn leaves, and vibrant spring flora. Lighting Designer Kevin White activated the voile “clouds” and seasonal environments through color and projection. Student Associate Scenic Designer Addison Hill contributed a detailed scale model and executed key build elements, including the Toadstool Oven and sculptural foliage. Student Scenic Charge Artist Lily Nance and her team translated the design into a cohesive, fully realized environment and the student prop shop team led by Kevin White brought the concept sketches to wonderfully whimsical life.

Together, these elements created a playful, sensory-rich “pond world” that invited audiences into a shared experience… one that felt, quite simply, like a joyful hug.