ABOUT
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Suzu Sakai is a NYC based Scenic & Production Designer and Artistic Director working across theater, immersive installation, and digital art. She brings a collaborative, deeply human approach to every project. Her designs are built around the emotional architecture of a story: how a space can hold tension, invite intimacy, or crack open a world. She is drawn especially to new works and re-telling of classics, and brings the same rigor and curiosity to intimate black box productions as she does to large-scale main stage design.
Growing up across Japan, Thailand, and the US, Suzu's multicultural upbringing informs both her aesthetic sensibility and her commitment to work that bridges cultures, elevates underrepresented stories, and finds new ways to connect people through stories and space. Recent & upcoming productions include: TRASH (Perelman Arts Center, NY), Club NVRLND (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, UK),The Brothers Size (The Shed, NY), Musical: Lizard Boy (NYC Off Broadway premiere & Oregon Shakespeare Festival production), and Straight White Men (Southwark Playhouse, UK). She has assisted Broadway and Off-Broadway designers in both set & lighting. Suzu holds a B.A. from Smith College, and an MFA in Theater Design at The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS:
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CV
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2026
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BEAUTY FREAK by James Clements / Directed by Danilo Gambini
Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss / Directed by Octavio Cardenas
TRASH by James Caverly & Andrew Morrill / Directed by Nathaniel P. Claridad
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Set Design / The Cell Theater (NY, USA)
Set Design / Eastman School of Music Kodak Hall (NY, USA)
Set Design / Perelman Arts Center (NY, USA)
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2025
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Club NVRLND by Jack Holden / Directed by Steve Kunis
The Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney / Directed by Bijan Sheibani
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Set & Costume Design / Assembly Checkpoint (Edinburgh Fringe, UK)
Set Design / The Shed (NY, USA)
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2024
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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
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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)
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2023
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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
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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)
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2022
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2021
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~ 2020
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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
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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)
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