Kim Zhou (she/her/hers)
Kim Zhou is a scenic designer and interdisciplinary artist. Aspired and trained to be an architect, she discovered her fascination with theatrical experience during a summer study in Italy. At Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli and Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, she encountered architecture not just as structure, but space that holds stories, trace of time and imagination.
Her work is influenced by phenomenology as a way of seeing—attuned to the shared, subconscious feelings beneath everyday experiences. Her design process draws attention to instinct and atmosphere over intellect.
She deeply believes in the value and knowledge gained through handcraft—not only for its tactile richness, but also for the essential bridging of mind and hand in the creative process.
She graduated from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale with an MFA in scenic design.
Her recent design credits include The Far Country (Yale Repertory Theatre), Sex and Abbey (The Brick Theatre), Love and Information (LaGuardia Performing Arts), The Baroness (Playhouse on Park), Noises Off (upcoming, Legacy Theater). Other credits include associate design in Magic of the Heart at Shanghai Disney World (2026), Henry IV at Theater for a New Audience, assistant designer for Millions at Alliance theater, graphic artist for projection for Yellowface (Todd Haimes Theatre).
The Stage Space - A Small Manifesto, or Contemplation
A space on stage has many inhabitants.
It’s a space for light, to travel through paths, to improvise a lively dance, to hide in shadows of mystery, to accent the harshness, or to touch a surface and evoke consolation.
It’s a space for the acoustic, navigating how sound echoes within the space, which is by itself a musical instrument of different configurations and materials. Wood or metal, chamber or tunnel, they each inherit a distinguished acoustic quality.
It’s a space for actors to live in. In fact, their footsteps give the ground a name. They stumble on an uneven floor, floundering in mud and water, to jump for joy and make melodious sounds or amble along the street on a silent and tranquil night. The words with the specific vibrations name the air; the space that connects them with the sublime, the dreams, the wasteland of a barren and eager soul, or the trap of captivity, death, and despair.
It’s a space to give the most mundane objects a moment to manifest their beings so that we realize a chair is never merely a chair as we’ve always seen. We see poetry when a timely rain washes off the hardship and pain or a quivering flame of a candle telling a devastating story with a glimmer of hope. So that the audience can create a rainfall or lighten a match inside themself one day when they need it.
The stage is a space to recreate insightful seeings of humanity through a synthesis of art forms, from life towards something beyond.
How could we create a common space for these inhabitants to be alive?
Dec.1st, 2021