Without light, nothing exists.

Integral to the presentation’s success is Allison Hohman’s stunning lighting design. From old-fashioned footlights and a few ceiling lights, Ms. Hohman’s strategic shadowy effects frame the performers and their surroundings in ways which amazingly replicate the smoky texture of long ago movies. Most impressive are the clipped transitions between the prison and the Matron’s room. Then there are the screaming red hues that score violent passages such as a stylized sexual violation with a broom.