"The set could not simply be a place where the story happened—it had to become part of the musical instrument itself."
For scenic designer Riw Rakkulchon, that realization became the foundation of their work on Mexodus, the acclaimed live-loop musical created by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson. The production, which explores the little-known history of Black Americans who fled the United States for Mexico in pursuit of freedom, demanded an approach that challenged traditional ideas of musical theatre design.
Unlike conventional musicals, Mexodus generates much of its score live onstage through looping technology. Music, movement, storytelling, and sound creation occur simultaneously. For Rakkulchon, this meant the scenery could no longer function as a passive backdrop.
"To be honest, I didn't initially know how to approach it," Rakkulchon recalls. "I quickly realized this wasn't a musical where the scenery could exist independently from the music-making process."
Working alongside director David Mendizábal and sound designer Mikhail Fiksel, Rakkulchon helped develop an environment that integrated looping triggers, instruments, speakers, and performance pathways directly into the architecture of the stage. The result was a space where performers could create music, activate loops, and advance the narrative without ever stepping outside the world of the play.
One of the central challenges was maintaining a delicate balance between technology and storytelling. While audiences needed to understand that the music was being built in real time, the mechanics could never overshadow the emotional journey at the heart of the production.
"The audience needed to understand that the music was being created live, but the process could never overwhelm the story," Rakkulchon explains.
Rather than recreating nineteenth-century Texas or Mexico with historical literalism, the design embraced a more layered approach. Elements of a barn, a railway journey, and the Southern Underground Railroad coexisted alongside contemporary performance technology, creating a space where history and present-day storytelling could occupy the same stage.
For Rakkulchon, the project reflects a broader artistic philosophy. Whether designing large-scale musicals, intimate dramas, or public performances, the goal remains the same: creating environments that actively participate in storytelling.
"I am less interested in scenery as decoration and more interested in environments that actively participate in the story," they say.
That philosophy has helped establish Rakkulchon as one of the most versatile scenic designers working in American theatre today. A graduate of Yale University's MFA Theatre Design program, they have created designs for institutions including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, The Public Theater, The Old Globe, Audible Theater, and many others.
Yet Mexodus remains a uniquely significant milestone.
"What excited me most was that the live-loop format blurred the boundary between environment, sound, and performance," Rakkulchon says. "The set became an active collaborator in the production."
In an era when theatre increasingly seeks new forms of interdisciplinary expression, Mexodus demonstrates how design can become part of the score itself—and how space can be every bit as musical as sound.
Photo credit: JKLphoto
