ESU Theatre Professor Wins Regional Scenic Award

Yoshinori Tanokura, associate professor of theatre at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, recently earned a Carbonell Award for his design for the play, Peter and the Starcatcher, produced by the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and the University of Miami.

Now in their 39th year, the Carbonell Awards foster the artistic growth of professional theater in South Florida by celebrating the diversity of theater artists, providing educational scholarships, and building audience appreciation and civic pride.  Over 25 professional theater companies in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties participate in the awards.

“It is nice to be recognized,” Tanokura said.  “What makes me smile more is the friendly competition among other notable designers.”

Tanokura is currently working on scenic and costume designs for the upcoming theatre department production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which will run April 22-26.

“The sets and costumes will present metaphors for the world that has been turned upside down and is restoring its balance,” he said. “The rigid and cold environment turns into a softer, sensual, and mysterious forest of translucent fabric.”

A member of the university faculty since 2009, Tanokura designed the sets and costumes for the theatre department’s recent productions of Seussical and Eurydice.  Other ESU credits include: The Wizard of Oz, Spike Heels, Lord of the Flies, Top Girls, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, The Diary of Anne Frank, Closer, A Christmas Carol, Sold, Blithe Spirit, Electra, One Thousand Cranes, As You Like It, Polaroid Stories, Dandelion, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Savage in Limbo and The Hobbit. 

In addition to his design work, this semester Tanokura is teaching courses in scene painting, play production, and an online introduction to theatre course.

Tanokura earned a B.F.A. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an M.F.A. from the University of Connecticut and an M.A. from Central St. Martins College of Art and Design in London, England.  His recent professional design credits include the world premieres of Clever Little Secret by Joe DiPietro (George Street Playhouse) and Stargirl (People’s Light & Theatre Co.) which was adapted from the acclaimed novel of the same title by Jerry Spinelli, Exonerated (Delaware Theatre Company) and Pride and Prejudice (People’s Light & Theatre Co.).

Other credits include: The 39 Steps and Devil’s Music (George Street Playhouse), Doubt and Pride and Prejudice (People’s Light & Theatre), the world premiere of The Taster by Joan Ackermann and Othello at Shakespeare & Company, The Caretaker (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Opera North), a double bill of L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and Gianni Schicchi for Seattle Opera, Iowa 08 (Vineyard
Theatre), Babes in Toyland (Birmingham Children’s Theatre), Julius Caesar
(Connecticut Repertory Theatre), and the world premiere of Cecilia’s Last Tea Party by Russell Davis (Passage Theatre).

Before Tanokura started teaching at ESU, he often assisted designers John Lee Beatty and Donald Eastman on Broadway and New York City Opera productions including the national tour of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Color Purple, and Margaret Garner.  As a sketch artist and model maker, Tanokura served for Production Design Group on various corporate design projects, such as the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN studios, and GM auto shows.

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