ROBERTPERRYDESIGN
PRESS (selected)
"The Hothouse"
Atlantic Theater Company | NYC
"The same sensibility, which somehow achieves parody without exaggeration, is reflected in Rick Gradone's tacky but hip costumes and in the radioactive glow of Robert Perry's lighting."
- Ben Brantley, New York Times
"The Water Engine"
Atlantic Theater Company | NYC
Drama Desk Award nomination for BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
"As designed by Walt Spangler (sets), Rick Gradone (costumes) and Robert Perry (lighting), it is an exceptionally handsome production."
Mr. Spangler and Mr. Perry make marvelous use of the play of repeated shadows, of both words on signs and technological images, against the gleaming chrome of the set. In fact, as it stands, “The Water Engine” is more of a thrill for the eye than the ear, which is surely a first in a Mamet production...
Winningly unctuous performances from Mr. Lage and Mr. Jacobson, and an affecting (and expertly lighted) moment from Mr. Goldstein, in which Charles visits his own Gethsemane of doubts."
- Ben Brantley, New York Times
"With an able assist from Robert Perry's lighting, we also have a vivid sense of the machinery of the factory whose grinding confinement Lang hopes to escape."
- Elyse Sommer, Curtain Up
"Coriolanus"
The Shakespeare Theatre | DC
“Michael Kahn’s staging of Shakespeare’s last tragedy begins with a striking, spotlighted image – a cascade of what looks like pure gold, streaming from on high, past the placards of protesters, then disappearing through a trap door on the stage.”
- The Washington Post
"Inexpressible Island"
Dallas Theater Center | Dallas, TX
“The design team for this Dallas Theater Center production – Walt Spangler on sets, Robert Perry with lights, Shane Rettig doing sound – deserves an ovation for finding beauty in generic sheets of reflective white and hissing blasts of cold, steamy air.”
- Jimmy Fowler, The Dallas Observer
"Arcadia"
Clarence Brown Theatre | Knoxville, TN
“All of the design of Arcadia is top-notch. The lighting, sound and special effects radiate with the characters. Every angle is covered with near perfection.”
- Kristi Maxwell, The Daily Beacon
“The stunning set design by Craig Siebels and the breathtaking lights by Robert Perry will amaze your senses.”
- Sunsphere City Pulp/Platters
"The Night of the Iguana"
Dallas Theater Center | Dallas, TX
“Spangler’s set is the perfect foil for Rob Perry’s brilliant lighting. He does more than create mood and focus, but his work almost becomes a character in itself. In the final moments of the play, amidst the burgeoning hope inspired on William’s veranda, Perry’s lighting seems to dance around the edges creating the illusion that the demons haven’t been completely vanquished, but kept at bay for the moment.”
- John Beaird, Dallas Voice Lifestyles
“...And amazing it is! A brilliant burst of design commands the audience’s attention. The peculiar warped stage becomes the center of a fierce storm complete with pouring rain, thunder and lightning. This intense scene ends with a spotlight focused on Shannon reaching out into the rain at a point of nervous breakdown – and the audience members in the front row undoubtedly a little damp. Impressive lighting also creates a multicolored ambiance of a jungle after the storm.”
- Julian P. Hopson, The Daily Campus
"Reefer Madness"
Variety Arts Theatre | NYC
New York Premiere
"And while the busy choreography of Paula Abdul (yes, that Paula Abdul) would have fared better on a bigger stage, Robert Perry's inspired lighting and Andy Fickman's sure-handed direction hold the line between artful madness and plain chaos."
- Webster Younce, Time Out NY
"Walt Spangler's colorful (if esoteric) set design, Robert Perry's splashly, colorful lights, and Dick Magnanti's attractive (and frequently outrageous) costumes provide perfect support"
- Matthew Murray, Talking Broadway
"Director Fickman and his designers' Walt Spangler (sets), Robert Perry (lights), and Dick Magnanti (costumes) have created the kind of (ridiculously funny) hellish, drug-den netherworld you'd expect the Lecturer to show the high schoolers."
- Michael Criscuolo, NY Theatre
"An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein"
Atlantic Theater Company | NYC
"Lighting Designer Robert Perry deftly transforms what you see when you take your seat into a kaleidoscope of additional colors."
- Elyse Sommer, Curtain Up
"Aside from some snatches of Silverstein’s goofy rock songs, the most appealing element in the show is the snazzy swoop of white plastic that constitutes Walt Spangler’s set. Lit in candy colors by Robert Perry, it could double as a dance floor in some stylish retro boite."
- Charles Isherwood, Variety
"Iphigeneia at Aulis"
The Pearl Theatre Company | NYC
"Robert Perry's lighting design goes a long way toward showing what subtlety means. This is an elegant, respectful production of a classic Greek tragedy. The text is left to speak for itself."
- David Lohrey, CurtainUp
"Drowning Crow"
Goodman Theatre, Albert Ivar Theatre | Chicago, IL
World Premiere
“The design for C-Trip’s first act performance-art piece alone is a tour de force, with scenery by Derek McLane, lighting by Robert Perry, original music by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen, stunning projections by John Boesche and costumes by Birgit Rattenborg.”
- Richard Christiansen, Chicago Tribune
“Derek McLane’s quasi-expressionistic set, inventively lit by Robert Perry, incorporates tilted columns, trap doors and clever convertible elements.”
- Anne Spiselman, Hyde Park Herald
“As always, the design team at the Goodman has done spectacular work. Scenic designer Derek McLane and lighting designer Robert Perry work well together. Creating a lovely image of a fading plantation they give the stage an errie, fiery reality.”
- Gay Chicago Magazine
"Without a doubt, the whole staging is gorgeous to look at–especially Birgit Rattenborg Wise’s crisp and sensuously sunlit island attire. Derek McLane’s Greek-inspired set, with its tottering columns, is juxtaposed against the stirring elements and his imposing African mask designs. Robert Perry’s lush yet ominous lighting; and Rob Milburn’s and Michael Bodeen’s Caribbean/urban-tinged sound design evoke natural disaster boiling beneath the breezily idyllic sea aura. One of the more evocative visuals has the cast pulling stacks of suitcases out of a wall they adorned in a previous scene."
- Lucia Mauro, ChicagoTheater.com
"Boston Marriage"
Joseph Papp Public Theater | NYC
World Premiere
"Boston Marriage takes place in a room where the color of the walls changes dramatically, from a lush red-orange down to a pale cherry-blossom pink. (Reviewers who ascribe the change to set designer Walt Spangler are being unfair to lighting designer Robert Perry.) The heavily noticeable color alterations match the shifts in emotional temperature, as if the action were happening in a room-size thermometer or polygraph."
- Michael Feingold, The Village Voice
"The action unfolds in Anna's newly-refurbished drawing room, a pink wedding-cake of a chamber that Walt Spangler has designed beautifully and Robert Perry has lit just as beautifully by using, among other sources of illumination, some attractive sconces."
- David Finkle, TheaterMania
"Crowns"
McCarter Theatre | Princeton, NJ and 2econd Stage, NYC
World Premiere
“On the smooth expanse of Riccardo Hernandez’s set, Robert Perry’s subtly shaped, varicolored lights pick out the relevant hat or face with unerring tonal precision.”
- Michael Feingold, The Village Voice
“Set design by Riccardo Hernandez and lighting by Robert Perry effectively complement the colorful display of characters and their costumes.”
“[Taylor] also uses the colorful and adaptable costumes by Emilio Sosa and the often beautiful lighting by Robert Perry to great effect.”
- Ted Otten, New York Times
"The Oldest Story in the World"
Theatre Novi Most | Southern Theatre | Minneapolis, MN
“A pool table, signified simply and strikingly by Robert Perry’s lighting, is where the two launch their first dispute.”
- Alex Strnad, The Star Tribune
“Theatre Novi Most, and director/co-founder Lisa Channer, prove with “Oldest Story” that if enough people put their heads together, and they let it percolate long enough, you just might end up with something brilliant... There is time travel. There is nudity. There is fantastic lighting and a whole other world of sound.”
- Matthew A. Everett, TC Daily Planet
“The Oldest Story in the World brings top video and theater designers from New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Minneapolis together with playwright Kira Obolensky and some of the Twin Cities’ most dynamic physical actors.”
- Broadway World News Desk
"Fiddler on the Roof"
Virginia Repertory Theatre | Richmond, VA
"Brian Prather's set design is relatively simple, but lighting designer Robert Perry bathes it in luxurious colors so that the sunsets rival nature and the striated lighting in a train station effectively reflects the fracturing of Tevye's family. "
- David Timberline, Style Weekly
"Robert Perry’s lighting design is lovely, shifting from soft and warm in the earlier parts of the story to harsh and almost funereal towards the dénouement."
- Jay Paul, Richmond Times-Dispatch
"All's Well That Ends Well"
Triad Stage | Greensboro, NC
"Visually, the production is quite striking. Robert Perry’s beautifully intense lighting pairs well with Robin Vest’s scenic design."
- Brandon C. Jones, Classical Voice of North Carolina (CVNC)
"Lost Lake"
Manhattan Theatre Club | NYC
World Premiere
"A shocking set change and autumnal rethink of Robert Perry's lighting plot add a distinct, melancholy vibe to a play that's spent most of its preceding 75 minutes teetering on the edge of comedy."
- Matthew Murray, Talkin’ Broadway
"Robert Perry’s lighting, as seen through the large picture windows, elegantly conveys the changing seasons and times of day."
- David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
"Robert Perry’s lighting (which includes the view of the property out the large picture window) has a poetic quality and incorporates many moods."
- Victor Gluck, Theatre Scene
"Both lighting designer Robert Perry and costume designer Jess Goldstein provide delicate support for the play and the performances. Perry’s work is gracefully atmospheric and Goldstein’s clothes help bring the characters into sharp focus visually"
- Andy Propst, American Theater Web
"Especially as lit by Robert Perry with an infinite degree of sensitivity to different times of day and night, the cottage interior creates an attractive impression, even as you begin to notice the many signs of dilapidation, including cracked paint and a shutter falling out of place."
- David Barbour, Lighting & Sound America
"Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike"
Arena Stage, Fichandler Stage | Washington DC
"As always, Arena’s technical elements are right on the mark. In particular, the set design by Daniel Conway, lighting design by Robert Perry, and sound design by James Sugg all blend to create a beautiful, lush, near-Eden – complete with cherry orchard – that is near perfection. Any one element by itself would be impressive enough, but all three together work in perfect harmony. Anyone unfamiliar with theatre in the round would be astonished with what Arena’s technical designers are capable of creating, each and every time, in such a challenging space."
- Julieanna Novak, MD Theatre Guide
"Robert Perry’s lighting design accompanies the space well, with subtle touches that focus on time of day and natural-seeming tones. His lighting and Conway’s set divide the stage well, too, creating different moods on each quarter of the stage."
- Alan Katz, DC Theatre Scene
"Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike"
Goodman Theatre, Albert Ivar Theatre | Chicago, IL
Chicago Premiere
"Amy Clark’s costumes are sparklingly clever, Richard Woodbury’s sound, and original music add to the evening’s delight and Robert Perry’s lighting, sheer perfection."
- Alan Bresloff, Around the Town Chicago
"VSMS is a good-looking show. You'll want to move into the airy luxe country house setting by Charlie Corcoran, warmly lit by Robert Perry."
- Jonathan Abarbanel, Windy City Times
"Deathtrap"
Triad Stage | Greensboro, NC
"Successfully scaring someone is a science and an art; it takes a precise manipulation of lighting, sound and suspense to create a feeling of uneasiness. Triad Stage capitalized on all three key components to artfully craft their scare tactic during its opening performance of Deathtrap.
The light design by Robert Perry was superb, too, and played nicely with the sound and set design. At the start of the play, the set, coupled by the sound of bird’s singing, is flooded with a warm, morning sun, complementing the warmth of the cabin and the strong smell of pine that filled the house. I felt comfortable and cozy. Perry set me up. That cozy feeling didn’t last for long once several murderous plans began to shape. The lamps flickered and browned out during a thunderous storm and at times went completely black or red to dramatize the action on stage."
- Lenise Willis, Yes! Weekly
"The Invisible Hand"
Milwaukee Repertory Theatre | Milwaukee, WI
"The entire production is enhanced by the scenic design of Dan Conway and a spectacularly subtle and evocative lighting designed by Robert Perry."
- Dave Begel, OnMilwaukee
"My Fair Lady"
Encore Musical Theatre Company | Dexter, MI
"Projections by Mr.Walton are gorgeous, at times black and white, at times spotted with color, and representational of the original Broadway sets. It works magnificently here, and with no surprise given Mr Walton’s Tony/Drama Desk/Academy Award background. He’s helped by some terrific lighting by Robert Perry."
- A2View
"Queens for a Year"
Hartford Stage | Hartford, CT
World Premiere
"Lucie Tiberghien’s direction is taut, and working with an exceptionally well-designed set by Daniel Conway and lighting design by Robert Perry, she’s able to give the play an almost cinematic pacing. Victoria Deiorio’s sound design and Beth Goldenberg’s costume design are spot on. The production elements pull together explosively during Queens for A Year’s cataclysmic finale."
- Mark G. Auerbach, The Westfield News
"Into the Wild"
Encore Musical Theatre Company | Dexter, MI
World Premiere
"While it is technically a workshop of the show, it is hard to call it that because everything here is so well polished that it is almost hard to remember that this is a work-in-progress and will still change and grow over time. Robert Perry does excellent work lighting it all – things look brighter and more colorful than any show I can remember at Encore.."
- A2View
"Gem of the Ocean"
Goodman Theatre, Albert Ivar Theatre | Chicago, IL
20th Anniversary Production
"Robert Perry’s bold lighting, partnered with “City of Bones” slave ship projection designed by Mike Tutaj, impresses. These breathtaking visual renderings add immeasurable depth and dimension to the powerful Act II scene."
- Stephen Best, Theater-Chicago
"Assisted by Linda Buchanan’s cage-like set design, Robert Perry’s stormy lighting effects and the cast’s marvelous singing, director Smith manages to give the play’s mystical climax a haunting, gripping power."
- Hugh Iglarsh, New City Stage
"The long, highly ritualized interlude is rendered here with shimmering lighting by Robert Perry and sound design by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca."
- Anne Spiselman, Hyde Park Herald
"Absolutely takes your breathe away...A Production that should not be missed."
- Chicago Sun-Times
"Gem of the Ocean is a full Theatrical Experience"
- Chicago Tribune