A GINGERBREAD THEATRE KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON

candy footlights from Dr. Essin’s 2021 gingerbread theatre

written by Elena Araoz - December 24, 2021

Winter 2021 and the speed of the COVID Omicron variant are forcing in-person productions to close. Unlike the mandated closure of winter 2020, this staggered shuttering is seemingly caused by COVID cases sweeping through casts, understudies, swings, crew and staff, as well as the financial unreliability of a COVID-cautious audience. In the midst of this continued financial and emotional devastation to theatre makers, theater professor at Vanderbilt University Dr. E. Christin Essin continues her yearly tradition of designing and building a brand new theater - a gingerbread theatre, Her intricate candy creations conjure the expectant moment before a performance begins when the audience sits with the beauty of the proscenium arch and its surrounds, Her one of a kind structures bring theatre into her home through the most analogue of methods, The lively miniature venues seem to honor the people who build and care for our stages, who design productions, and who work backstage, all of whom, in normal times, help the show go on.

Exactly one year after our feature of Dr. Essin’s yearly gingerbread theatres titled “GINGERBREAD THEATERS FOR A VIRTUAL WINTER (FEATURING AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. E. CHRISTIN ESSIN)” we celebrate her 2021 creation. Below is what she tells us about this year’s inspiration.

DR E. CHRISTIN ESSIN: "2021. Not an easy year to be a theatre professional. Or theatre educator. But at least I was back in the classroom, and October is usually the month I start thinking about my annual gingerbread theatre. Just random thoughts. Would this candy be good for decoration? How difficult would it be to fashion fruit leather into a proscenium curtain?

I moved this year and found a stash of fairy lights that I’d forgotten about, and when I ran across some gumdrops at Target, I began thinking about some candy footlights. When rolling and cutting out the floor, I took a drinking straw and drilled some holes into the apron. After baking, I pushed a fairy light up through and into the gumdrops. A long-forgotten nutcracker cookie cutter provided the inspiration for the proscenium. 2021 felt like a year for defiant bold colors, and here’s hoping that 2022 won’t call for the same."

Gingerbread Theaters for a Virtual Winter (Featuring an interview with Dr. E. Christin Essin)