Reviews
and Press
Shining in Misery – Capital City Players – February 2023
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From Isthmus
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‘Shining in Misery’ takes a Stephen King mash-up to the stage
February 28, 2023
By Gwendolyn Rice
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"Shining in Misery is also buoyed by excellent production values. Kevin Gawley’s multi-level set looks like a cutaway haunted house filled with perils — complete with the iconic hotel elevator, a creepy cellar with a glowing boiler, a plethora of doors and windows for ghouls to lurk in, and bedrooms that appear and disappear."
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From Talkin' Broadway
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Shining in Misery: A King-Size Parody
By John Chatterton
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"The hotel set by Kevin Gawley is designed with a multitude of windows, doors and hidey-holes for the actors to pop in and out of, funhouse-style."
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From The Cap Times
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Stephen King parody 'Shining in Misery' can really 'Carrie' a tune
Feb 25, 2023
By Rob Thomas
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"Farce depends partly on slamming doors. The set is important. In this case, Kevin Gawley has built a multilevel, multi-purpose monster that offers levels and escape hatches, symbolizing the multiple psychic threats posed by the Overlook Hotel. The set contains a banal living room on the first floor, but a basement with an impressive boiler and furnace below that, and a hidden escape below that. Above the living room, the front desk doubles as the Torrances' car and Dick's snowmobile. Windows, an elevator (whose indicator is stuck on L), and the front door conceal Room 217, which slides out when needed."
​​King Hedley II – University of Louisville – September 2019
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From Broadway World Louisville
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Review: KING HEDLEY II at University Of Louisville
September 30, 2019
By Keith Waits
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"Kevin D. Gawley's set and lighting design create a rustic but richly atmospheric environment, and Zhanna Goldentul's costumes are understated. In a show like this, you may not pay notice to the costumes unless they strike a wrong note, but it all fits."
​​The Nutcracker – Champaign-Urbana Ballet – December 2018
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From smile politely
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CU Ballet’s The Nutcracker dazzles and delights
December 6, 2018
By Debra Domal
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"Lighting designer Kevin Gawley and production designer Cory Rodeheaver combined their talents to create a sense of place that moves easily from large to small, drawing us into Drosselmeyer’s workshop, then back out to the front door of the Stahlbaum home. Digital projections merge perfectly with physical set pieces, creating a sense of depth."
Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike – University of Louisville – March 2017
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From Insider Louisville
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UofL’s ‘Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike’ is like Chekhov in a blender
March 2, 2017
By Eli Keel
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"The set is typically grand, as I’m coming to expect at UofL productions. Designer Kevin Gawley has created a spacious midcentury modern living room, complete with a sun porch, staircase and lots of natural-looking stone work. The American living room is one of the most visited spaces in theater and TV, and Gawley makes this visit pleasant. Perhaps I’m betraying recent renovations in my own home, but as I sat waiting for the show to start, I marveled at the evenness of the hard wood floors. (Surely that’s some sort of laminate? Even so, it’s well applied.) The exposed wood of the support beams is a nice touch, too. It may sound like a silly thing to focus on, but the UofL scenic department makes environments that feel real and ground the action. The silliness of Durang is all the more silly and wonderful for happening in such a realistic home."
Wrinkle In Time – Lifeline Theatre – February 2017
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From PerformInk
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Lifeline’s A WRINKLE IN TIME Captures the Emotion and Humor of the Beloved Novel
March 1, 2017
By Simone Nabicht
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"Mrs. Whatsit’s metamorphosis into a character with long, colorful wings was a particularly effective moment — aided by a clever scaffold set which supported the children as they “flew” upon the creature. The production is well illustrated by Kevin D. Gawley’s lighting design, culminating in a beautiful final moment for this beautiful story of good against evil."
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From Time Out Chicago
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Lifeline delivers a thrilling adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved YA fantasy
March 3, 2017
By Alex Huntsberger
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“An ensemble of black-clad Noh-style performers provide many real-life special effects, which blend well with the visual touches of lighting designer Kevin D. Gawley, costume designer Izumi Inaba, and sound and music designer Eric Backus.”
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From Chicago Theatre Review
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It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…
March 2, 2017
By Colin Douglas
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“This latest offering by the prestigious Lifeline Theatre is another example of why their productions not only entertain audiences of all ages, but continue to inspire reading and the enjoyment of books. Enhanced by a versatile, futuristic setting by co-scenic designers Alan Donahue and Andrew Hildner, lit with imagination by Kevin D. Gawley and flavored by Eric Backus’ original music and sound design, younger theatergoers will be on the edge of their seats as this exhilarating saga unfolds before their eyes. A dark and stormy night has never seemed so scary, yet promised such an exciting story of love and hope.”
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From PictureThisPost.com
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Lifeline Theatre Presents A WRINKLE IN TIME Review: A Journey Through Imagination
March 25, 2017
By Lauren Katz
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Magical Design
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"Lifeline Theatre’s intimate space worked perfectly for this production, acting as a useful manner of drawing the audience into the magical world before us.
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Helmed by Kauzlaric, the artistic team utilized a creative and abstract approach to the script’s challenge of jumping across different universes. Co-Scenic Designers Alan Donahue and Andrew Hildner created a beautiful set with many moving parts – allowing the actors to move pieces and build new worlds as they traveled. This process was aided by a collaboration with Lighting Designer Kevin D. Gawley and Original Music and Sound Designer Eric Backus.
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A prime example is when Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace visit The Happy Medium (Marsha Harman), who through her crystal ball, is able to show them the Milky Way Galaxy. The lights immediately change, and a projection of stars and planets spread throughout the theater, carrying the audience with kids in their journey to this new sight.
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Aesthetically the design is gorgeous; however, in addition, the choice also acts as a lovely way of bringing the child-like innocence within the story to the surface. A Wrinkle in Time is about three kids discovering a new world, and we are able to watch that world build up around them as they travel. This added an exciting element to the production I was eager to watch unfold."
​King Lear – University of Louisville – November 2016
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From Broadway World
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Review: KING LEAR at University Of Louisville - Budding Among The Ruins
Nov. 14, 2016
By Keith Waits
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“Director Pennington appears to acknowledge this with a slow fade out on the Fool wistfully alone onstage in his final moments. It is a subtle touch indicative of the finer points the production is striving for. She is well supported by superb design work from Zhanna Goldentul (costumes), Jenn Calvano (sound design), and most especially Kevin Gawley, who designed the set and lighting. The stage floor is placed on an unnerving rake that gives the sense that the action might come spilling into our laps, which lends the whole thing a vertiginous inertia, and his work with projections during the storm scenes were startling, although the "rain" of light seemed to end before the sound of rain falling. Opening night gremlins aside, this was a gorgeous looking production.”
Fences – University of Louisville – September 2016
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From the Leo Weekly
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‘Fences,’ strong leads, solid direction and gorgeous set
September 28, 2106
By Eli Keel
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"Troy is a giant part. He talks, jokes, cajoles, reflects and anguishes. He’s a man with a past and a life full of regret. It’s a truly great role, and Madden has to give an equally-great performance, or the show is sunk from the first line. He’s up to the task, if a bit young for the part, though that’s somewhat to be expected with academic theater. Madden commands the stage and owns the space, which just reinforces the thematic notion that Troy’s front yard, a scraggly patch of dirt that he’s trying to enclose with a fence throughout the play, is the only thing he can even hope to control.
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And about that patch of dirt. The set by Kevin Gawley is impressive in its own right, with the Maxsons’ house reaching up two stories, packed in between two other houses, and with a huge old tree taking up space stage right. That’s all very nice, but what truly got to me was the dirt. The entire stage, the Maxsons’ front yard, is covered in hard-packed dirt. Early in the play, when Troy’s brother Gabriel cuts a little caper, you see tiny puffs of dirt kicked up by his feet.
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Later, as the emotional struggles at the heart of the play finally become physical, the dirt from the scuffle rises into the air. It adds a palpable layer to the action, far beyond the simple verisimilitude of a well-realized set."
Polaroid Stories – University of Louisville – October 2015
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From Arts-Louisville.com
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Fearless Stories of Hope and Fear
October 23, 2015
By Kate Barry
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"Punk kids, junkies, hookers, low lifes…Polaroid Stories paints a picture of the under belly of inner city realities. Stories of hope and fear stripped directly from actual interviews, this play tells tales of passion and intoxication in a haze of smoke and excitement. Originally a part of the Humana New Play festival at Actors Theater, University of Louisville has put together a fearless production.
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Actors traipse the set as audience members trickle into the Thrust Theatre and remain visible in some capacity until final curtain; a brilliant device in this regard considering the stories shared are filled with honest intimacy. Kudos to Kevin Gawley’s light and set design. Functional and urban, the stage is transformed into an urban wasteland serving as a backdrop for the desperation displayed upon it. Gawley’s lighting designs are nearly animated through moments of drug induced bliss and impoverished sorrow."
​​​​​Jane Eyre – Lifeline Theatre – September 2014
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From Showbiz Chicago
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Lifeline’s Jane Eyre
September 17, 2014
By Jim Schneider
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“I applaud the strong lighting design by Lifeline Ensemble member Kevin D. Gawley whose intimate knowledge of the difficult space is apparent and he masterfully manipulates.”
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From Around the Town Chicago
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“Jane Eyre” reviewed by Lawrence Riordan
September 26, 2014
By Lawrence Riordan
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"A minimalist set by William Boles allows for great variety of setting, and its austerity, combined with some extremely sophisticated lighting and light effects by Kevin D. Gawley, enabled Ms. Calvit and director Dorothy Milne to highlight and expand on the gothic elements of the text."
​​Monstrous Regiment – Lifeline Theatre – June 2014
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From Showbiz Chicago
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LIFELINE THEATRE PROVIDES A MONSTROUS GOOD TIME!
June 11, 2014
By Justin Allen Kimball
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"The technical aspects of this production really stood out as a big win for Lifeline Theater. When you walk into the theater you will first see a very strange, very exciting location for this play to be set. Scenic designer Joanna Iwanicka has created a tiny piece of this magical world that honestly. I wanted to play on. The set is very tall and steep which gives the production a very apropos sense of danger throughout. Not to mention Kevin Theis was able to use the space to perfection. The large decaying painting of the duchess was an eery look into what kind of production this is going to be. Not to mention the fantastic use of shadow by the lighting designer, Kevin D. Gawley. LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, the costuming and puppetry (masterfully done by Emily McConnell and Kitty Campbell) were pretty much the bees knees. I would recommend seeing this show based off of the troll costume alone."
Woman in White – Lifeline Theatre – September 2012
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From the Chicago Tribune
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Scheming, plotting and more plotting at Lifeline Theatre
September 18, 2012
By Kerry Reid
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"Collins' novel is most brilliant in its ironic asides and full-bodied descriptions of the settings and characters from multiple perspectives, which add up to a darkening sense of malevolent forces at play. But that doesn't really translate here, despite the suitably gloomy set and lighting by Alan Donahue and Kevin D. Gawley, respectively."
​​Hunger – Lifeline Theatre – February 2012
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From the Fourth Walsh
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"Hunger" (Lifeline Theatre): Gnaws at Me!
February 28, 2012
By Lawrence B. Johnson
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“Much of the show’s potency springs from the combination of Jessica Kuehnau’s efficient, versatile story-telling set, Kevin D. Gawley’s evocative lighting and Andrew Hansen’s sonic cocktail of German bombs and Shostakovich.”
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From Chicago On The Aisle
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As German bombardment strands Leningrad, political fear feeds desperation in ‘Hunger’
September 26, 2014
By Lawrence Riordan
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"A minimalist set by William Boles allows for great variety of setting, and its austerity, combined with some extremely sophisticated lighting and light effects by Kevin D. Gawley, enabled Ms. Calvit and director Dorothy Milne to highlight and expand on the gothic elements of the text."
Treasure Island – Lifeline Theatre – September 2009
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From Chicago Stage Review
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Treasure Island Review
September 28, 2009
By Venus Zarris
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“Alan Donahue designs a wonderful set. Kevin D. Gawley lights it with dramatic effect. Branimira Ivanova designs superb costumes. Andy Hansen’s Original Music and Sound Design create an outstanding audio atmosphere. All of the peripheral components are there in this technically exceptional production.”
The Island of Dr. Moreau – Lifeline Theatre – October 2007
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From the Daily Harold
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'Moreau' production completely engrossing
October 25, 2007
By Barbara Vitello
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“As for the production's look, let's just say Lifeline accomplishes remarkable things within its confined space. Tom Burch's arresting set morphs seamlessly from 19th-century schooner to a profane Eden made more menacing by Kevin D. Gawley's murky lighting and Victoria Delorio's unsettling sound effects and primal music, whose wailing violins and frenzied flutes recall the island's unfortunate inhabitants. Add to that Kimberly G. Morris' fantastical masks and costumes, and you have a show that grabs you and refuses to let go.”
​​​​​Gaudy Night – Lifeline Theatre – June 2006
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From Urban Excavations
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June 30, 2006
By Martha Wade Steketee
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"Director Dorothy Milne creates a complex world in a small space and utilizes every possible entrance and exit in the theater’s space. Jackie and Richard Penrod have created a beautiful and flexible set. You know that you have become attuned to subtle set pieces when the emergence of a rowboat elicits “oohs” from an audience. Sound by Victoria Deioria is lovely as usual and appropriately cinematic when necessary, moving smoothly from the pomp of collegiate ceremonial events to chirping of birds and buzz of insects evoking a world outside the college walls. Lighting and projections designs by Kevin D. Gawley are striking and subtle in equal measure."
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