LANGUAGE OF ANGELS
by Naomi Iizuka

Naomi Iizuka’s Language of Angels is a ghost story told in fractured memories, tracing the lives of young people haunted by the mysterious disappearance of a girl named Celie in rural North Carolina. My production explored how buried trauma and guilt can become ghosts that shape the future when left unresolved.

Staged in the round, the design evoked a cave-like, memory-driven space using abstract realism. Light and sound were used to create a fragmented, mnemonic landscape—flashes of illumination, echoing voices, and layered environmental textures revealed the characters’ inner worlds and repressed truths. A central rocky platform marked the emotional hotspot of the story, drawing characters toward or away from the site of tragedy. In the final scene between Danielle, who has danced with her demons and the past tragedies of her life to finally arrive at peace, and JB, Celie’s killer, this space embodied both Danielle’s isolated cabin retreat and the inescapable weight of guilt and memory.