ABOUT

Suzu Sakai is a NYC based freelance theater & production designer originally from Tokyo.
Working and having experience in theater production & design in NYC, Tokyo, and in other large cities, she has a passion for all aspects of artistic development and collaboration, as well as storytelling through new mediums in digital art & media.

Recent productions include: The Brothers Size (Geffen Playhouse, LA), Opera: The Rake's Progress (Shubert Theater, CT), Musical: Lizard Boy (NYC Off Broadway premiere & Oregon Shakespeare Festival production), and Straight White Men (Southwark Playhouse, UK), including festival shows in New York as well as working in production management at PARCO Inc. and space design in the digital art & media industry in Tokyo. She has assisted Broadway and Off-Broadway designers in both set & lighting.

Suzu holds a B.A. in Theater from Smith College, and an MFA in Theater Design at The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
Born in Tokyo, growing up in California, Chiang Mai, and Hiroshima, Suzu is passionate about arts education and cultural issues around the globe, and hopes to bridge the world through artistic storytelling.

AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS:

Donald & Zorka Oenslager Fellowship Award in Design / DGSD at Yale / 2024
Donald M. Oenslager Scholarship in Stage Design / DGSD at Yale / 2023

CV

2025

The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney / Directed by Bijan Sheibani*

Set Design / The Shed (NY, USA)

2024

The Ugly Xmas Sweater Musical by Dan Knechtges and Megan Larche Dominick / Directed by Kevin Cronin

The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney / Directed by Bijan Sheibani

Musical: Lizard Boy by Justin Huertas / Directed by Brandon Ivie

The Rake's Progress by Igor Stravinsky / Directed by Danilo Gambini

Set Design / Playhouse on Park (CT, USA)

Set Design / Geffen Playhouse (CA, USA)

Set Design / Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OR, USA)

Set Design / Shubert Theater (CT, USA)

2023

The Light by Loy A. Webb / Directed by Christina Franklin

Musical: Lizard Boy by Justin Huertas / Directed by Brandon Ivie

Color Boy by Esperanza Rosales Balcarcel / Directed by Jecamiah M. Ybanez

Moonie by Stefanie Kuo / Directed by Jisun Kim

Set Design / Chester Theater (MA, USA)

Set Design / Theater Row (NY, USA) *NYC Off-Broadway premiere

Set Design / Yale Iseman Theater (CT, USA)

Set Design / Yale Cabaret (CT, USA)

2022

Tempo by Harron Atkins, The Master's Tools by Zora Howard / Directed by Ashley Thomas

there is a thing at the end of the loop by Dylan Guerra / Directed by Christina Franklin

Constellations by Nick Payne / Directed by Robin Levine

more, more, more by Stefanie Kuo / Directed by Stefanie Kuo & Jisun Kim

soft apples by Doug Robinson / Directed by Gabrielle Hoyt

Set & Lighting Design / Yale Cabaret (CT, USA)

Set Design / Yale Cabaret (CT, USA)

Set Design / Forestburgh Playhouse (NY, USA)

Lighting Design / Yale Cabaret (CT, USA)

Set Design / Yale Cabaret (CT, USA)

2021

Today is My Birthday by Susan Soon He Stanton / Directed by Mina Morita

Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee / Directed by Steve Kunis

Associate Set Design / Yale Repertory Theater (CT, USA)

Set Design / Southwark Playhouse (London, UK)

~ 2020

Virtual Identity / Directed by Suzu Sakai

Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs / Directed by Sam Rush

Opera: Alexander's Feast by Handel / Directed by Steve Kunis

Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman / Directed by Hannah Sachs

Creative Direction / Studio Bybros Akasaka (Tokyo, JPN)

Set Design / New Century Theater (MA, USA)

Lighting Design / Harvard University (MA, USA)

Set & Lighting Design / Smith College Theater (MA, USA)