Grace Needs A Mirror
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f35b19f5-2bae-47ee-be82-e6fc29e44914/9be3b2da-3baf-4f8e-b5cb-fc5d8e6bd8c9_rw_3840.gif?h=69597189ffb0cbd8387a7fc2caf50438)
Written and Performed by Joyce Lu
Directed by Barry Shabaka Henley
Highway Performance Space, Los Angeles
Scenic Design by Carlo Maghirang
Projection Design by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh
Lighting Design by Wen-ling Liao
Sound Design by Jesse Mandapat
Projection Design by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh
Lighting Design by Wen-ling Liao
Sound Design by Jesse Mandapat
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f35b19f5-2bae-47ee-be82-e6fc29e44914/d7a9eedb-1f93-49e2-b395-dd5d9a194686_rw_1920.png?h=bdc9dd13e05605337f14c8e85f64da49)
Grace Needs a Mirror is an autobiographical play by Joyce Lu, in which she explores how institutional violence marks bodies and psyches from one life to the next; furthermore from there to discuss the relationship between fear and liberation.
Design Concept & Process
I was moved by Joyce's personal story. In my design I tried to undertake the unspoken parts of her struggles and psychological landscapes. Through the dramatic and stylized body movement, the videos acted as her self-portrait. In they play, they were also 'her mirror' reflecting her inner-self and emotional state.
![Opening scene](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f35b19f5-2bae-47ee-be82-e6fc29e44914/e2fa8e2a-e41d-46a2-9e5a-feb82f3fdabb_rw_1920.jpg?h=aadcc3711dcb2f27e51f65eb2da26bca)
Opening scene
![Past life as a drug dealer?](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f35b19f5-2bae-47ee-be82-e6fc29e44914/c9ce9303-8cf7-486b-927d-5986bbbb258c_rw_1920.jpg?h=6df127f0b9bc73393365aa386c7eb147)
Past life as a drug dealer?
![Locked up in the mental hospital](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f35b19f5-2bae-47ee-be82-e6fc29e44914/9aaa5edb-2a1f-40c9-ae92-faed422c7f28_rw_1920.jpg?h=4a4823b683998535a4f1db367d9602db)
Locked up in the mental hospital
![Dream sequence](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f35b19f5-2bae-47ee-be82-e6fc29e44914/939efa10-f445-42ec-8ffe-a2e55c959cc5_rw_1920.jpg?h=e606752264171e74e9d761ef02ea88b1)
Dream sequence
![Am I in David Lynch's Inland Empire?](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f35b19f5-2bae-47ee-be82-e6fc29e44914/75a1be73-a179-4def-afbf-d1fb4580279a_rw_1920.jpg?h=6b3d35e62a6b7b37544f0f1be41839a8)