Alexandra Friedman

set & production design | costume design | fabrication

Alex Friedman creates environments for performance - on screen, on stage, and on the body. She is especially excited about new work and having an open collaborative process. Alex aims to engage diverse audiences, exploding their preconceived notions of what film and theatre can be, and is interested in media that embrace the tactile craft of design and the beauty of the handmade.

Born in St Petersburg, Russia, Alex is a native of New York City and an alumna of Brandeis University and CalArts. Her design work for theatre has been presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and throughout the SF Bay Area and LA.

Alex recently completed jobs as a set designer on a new series for Bix Pix and on Guillermo del Toro’s new stop-motion Pinocchio film, produced by Shadowmachine and Netflix. Her first feature as a set designer, LAIKA’s stop-motion Missing Link, won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature in 2020. She is currently open to new opportunities.

SET DESIGN CONCEPT

Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca

As a Bride is prepared for her upcoming nuptials, the community around her examines the hopes and fears they have tied to this union, and passions begin to simmer. The Groom’s mother mistrusts her future daughter-in-law, while the Bride’s former lover Leonardo -- now with a family of his own -- cannot stand the thought of her marrying another. Caught between custom, duty, and desire, the Bride runs off with Leonardo during her wedding celebration, leading to a bloody confrontation that leaves her more confined than ever.

My design for this piece was inspired by the idea of marriage as ritual, the work of Antoni Tàpies, and a vision of a crushed persimmon. This work felt ripe for producing in the round, reflecting the Bride’s objectification even as she imagines she has agency.

Designed for Arena Stage's Fichandler Theater space in Washington, DC.

Copyright © 2022, Alexandra Friedman. All rights reserved.