Playwrights are visionary storytellers. They are the first to conjure the world of a play or musical. Through evocative descriptions, they literally and figuratively set the stage for the story to unfold. Scenic designers must then interpret and physically realize the writer's words.

The renderings and set models displayed in the Harry Ransom Center's new exhibition are works of art created to serve a practical purpose—to allow other members of the production team (the director, other designers, performers, construction crew, etc.) to understand what the set will look like before it has been built.

See displays from landmark American and British theatre productions from the past century, which bring together the iconic work of writers like Adrienne Kennedy, Arthur Miller, Robert Schenkkan, and Tennessee Williams, with award-winning designs from artists like Boris Aronson, Beowulf Boritt, Jo Mielziner, and Norman Bel Geddes.