Airness
Lighting Design Advisor
Yingman Tang
Location
Fat City Bar & Grill, 505 S. Chestnut St., Champaign, Illinois
Credit
Photo credits: Darrell Hoemann
Production Team
Director: Jordan Coughtry
Scene Designer: Avery Tang
Costume Designer: Khetag Tsabolov
Lighting Designer: Rolando Cisneros Jr.
Sound Designer: Austin Fuoss
Media Designer: Lili Federico
Properties Manager: Josh Doniek
Experience
Mentored an undergraduate lighting designer through the production of Airness, providing guidance on design development, load-in, installation, and programming. The production explores a community of air guitar performers pursuing self-expression and identity through performance.
Context
Airness (by Chelsea Marcantel) is a high-energy comedy that follows a group of air guitar competitors traveling across bar venues in the U.S., pursuing the ideal of “airness” — a form of uninhibited self-expression. The play centers on a newcomer, Nina, whose journey into this subculture becomes a story about identity, vulnerability, and community.
The Illinois Theatre production was staged in an actual bar environment rather than a traditional theatre, creating an immersive, rock-concert-like atmosphere that reflects the play’s setting and culture.
