For The Learned Ladies, I felt it was important to clearly show this is Philaminte's house, the overbearing mother who has taken the house over from her husband and family and turned it into a dubious intellectual salon. Philaminte is all about rules and is very stern and sharp. The director wanted to set the show during the Art Deco period, which lent itself nicely to sharp angles and strong geometry. Most of the characters in the play are caught up in appearing smart, and are thus the epitome of pedantry. I also wanted the space to have a pedantic energy. Thus in addition to sharp angles, I wanted to use lots of zig-zags and odd angles to convey the absurdity of the characters and the off kilter humor of the play.