Nina Ball / Scenic Design

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2015

By Sophocles

Adapted by Anne Carson

Directed by Mark Jackson and Hope Mohr

"This is cutting edge drama at its best, skillfully spare and energetically compact."

- Richard Connema, Talkin' Broadway

"Nina Ball’s brilliant set design evokes the constraints of fate, with its sloping, wooden quarter pipe that characters frequently try to crawl or run their way out of. "

- Samia Rahimtoola, UC Berkeley English

Nina Ball, Set Design

Stephanie Buchner, Light Design

Christine Crook, Costume Design

Theodore J.H. Hulsker, Sound Design

Kirsten Royston, Properties

Katherine Bickford, Stage Manager

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATRE, 2016

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Eric Ting

"Nina Ball's set was deceptively minimalist while carrying sophisticated implications: strip marks on the stage floor designated and cut through the space that became a "boxing ring" for interaction, complete with a red bell mounted on a bare brown wall."  

-Lou Fancher, East Bay Express 

Nina Ball, Set Design

Russell Champa, Light Design

Alexae Visel, Costume Design

Brendan Aanes, Sound and Projection Design

Kirsten Royston, Properties

Deirdre Rose Holland, Stage Manager

AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER, 2016

By Joseph Dougherty

Directed by Ron Lagomarsino

Nina Ball, Set Design

Robert Hand, Light Design

Jessie Amoroso, Costume Design

Brendan Aanes, Sound Design

Elisa Guthertz, Stage Manager

Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 2022

by August Wilson

directed by Tim Bond

Nina Ball, Set Design

Xavier Pierce , Light Design

Constanza Romero, Costume Design

Rasean Davonté Johnson, Sound and Projection Design

Tanya Birl, choreographer

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATRE, 2018

By Eric Ting and Philippa Kelly

An adaptation of Henry VI, Part I; Henry VI, Part II; and Richard III, by William Shakespeare

Directed by Eric Ting

“Nina Ball’s towering, modernist two level set frames the natural hillside behind. Ball’s striking steel frame portal, with its glassed-in bridge above echoes Shakespeare’s stage—with the surgical Tower bridge for murders. In that glass cage, horror prevails, while white-leaved trees inside frame brutal Ambition.”

- Barry David Horwitz, Theatrius

Nina Ball, Set Design

JiYoun Chang , Light Design

Anna R. Oliver, Costume Design

Brendan Aanes, Sound Design

Byron Au Yong, Original Music, Music Director

Erika Chong Shuch, Choreographer

Dave Maier, Fight Choreographer

Charles M. Turner, III, Stage Manager

Photo by Jay Yamada

SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE, 2016

By Jennifer Haley

Directed by Bill English

"Nina Ball’s revolving set is the show’s other star, flipping the action from the real world to the virtual world with miraculous precision."

- Chad Jones, San Francisco Chronicle

*Winner of Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Scenic Design

Nina Ball, Set Design

Mike Oesch, Light Design

Brooke Jennings, Costume Design

Theodore J.H. Hulsker, Sound Design

Jackie Scott, Properties

Sofia Dertimanis, Stage Manager

AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE, 2013

By Glen Berger

Directed by Carey Perloff

"...Perloff has Strathairn range farther around and deeper into the mysterious recesses of Nina Ball's fantastically cluttered, deserted-theater set."

- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

Nina Ball, Set Design

Alexander V. Nichols, Light Design

Jessie Amaroso, Costume Design

Jake Rodriguez, Sound Design

Ryan Parham, Properties

Stage Manager, Elisa Guthertz

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2011

By Jon Tracy

Directed by Jon Tracy

"The Shotgun Players production is stunning in its design on the small stage, thanks to set designer Nina Ball's sets..."

- Richard Connema, Talking Broadway

* Featured in American Theatre Magazine.

Nina Ball, Set Design

Lucas Krech, Light Design

Tina Yeaton, Costume Design

Daniel Bruno, Sound Design

Lloyd Vance, Video Design

Anne Kendall, Properties

Leah McKibbin, Stage Manager

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATRE, 2014

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Shana Cooper

"Nina Ball’s set grounds the play in a sort of primal fantasy where all the characters must expose their most elemental selves."  

- Karen D'Souza, The San Jose Mercury News.

Nina Ball, Set Design

Burke Brown, Light Design

Katherine O'Neil, Costume Design

Paul James Prendergast, Sound Design

Karen Szpaller, Stage Manager

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2017

By Sarah Kane

Directed by Jon Tracy

"Designer Nina Ball evokes sudden and meaningless destruction, taking us to poetic pictorial heights. The set alone and its decay make Kane’s play worth seeing."

- Adam Kaddoura, Talking Broadway

Nina Ball, Set Design

Heather Basarab, Light Design

Miyuki Bierlein, Costume Design

Matt Stines, Sound Design

Devon LaBelle, Properties

Christina Larson, Nakita Kadam, Stage Managers

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2017

By Christoper Chen

Directed by Susannah Martin

"The glass box stage set springs from the fertile genius of Set Designer Nina Ball, who has surpassed herself, yet again."

- Barry David Horwitz, Theatrius

 "...the entire stage erupts into a swanky office at the New Yorker (a stunning achievement by set designer Nina Ball) and a more traditional play appears to begin"

- John Wilkins, KQED

Nina Ball, Set Design

Ray Oppenheimer, Light Design

Christine Crook, Costume Design

Matt Stines, Sound Design

Wesley Cabral, Projections Designer

Devon LaBelle, Properties

Nakita Kadam, Stage Manager

Shotgun Players, 2016

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Mark Jackson

"Nina Ball’s simple set is still complex in the meanings and diversity of effects it affords."

-Eddie Reynolds, Theatre Eddys

"Rather than disguising the theater, the set up emphasized its aesthetic tropes, reminding the audience of the play's "play-ness" even as they watched it unfold."  

-Sarah Elizabeth Adler, East Bay Express

Nina Ball, Set Designer

Heather Basarab, Lighting Designer

Christine Crook, Costume Designer

Matt Stines, Sound Designer

Devon LaBelle, Properties

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2011

By E. Hunter Spreen

Directed by Susannah Martin

"...Nina Ball's exceptional set--like a rustic DNA spiral of a domestic interior, with rays of beams shooting out towards the audience..."

- Ken Bullock, The Berkeley Daily Planet

Nina Ball, Set Design

Lucas Krech, Light Design

Nina Ball, Costume Design

Jake Rodriguez, Sound Design

Ian Winters, Video Design

Seren Helday, Properties 

Amanda Melton, Stage Manager

AURORA THEATRE COMPANY, 2013

By Franz Kafka in a version by: David Farr and Gísli Örn Gardarsson 

Directed by Mark Jackson

"...the extraordinary set by Nina Ball, which renders the upper half of the set as Gregor’s nightmarish world, all vertiginous and askew, with sturdy walls just right for climbing."

- Chad Jones, Theatredogs

Nina Ball, Set Design

Kurt Landisman, Light Design

Christine Crook, Costume Design

Matt Stines, Sound Design

Mia Baxter, Properties

California Shakespeare Theater, 2018

by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

directed by Nataki Garrett

“Nina Ball’s interesting set incorporates decorated panels that seem to bring the surrounding landscape right up onto the stage, and a traditional trap door is used extremely well.”

-Charles Kruger, Theatrestorm

Nina Ball, Set Design

Xavier Pierce , Light Design

Naomi Arnst, Costume Design

Jake Rodriguez, Sound Design

Dave Maier, Fight Director

Rami Magron, Movement

Janni Younge, Puppet Design

Laxmi Kumaran, Stage Manager

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2013

By Linda McLean

Directed by Jon Tracy

"Tracy and set designer Nina Ball underscore the poetic depth and versatility of the writing and performances by letting the action float on an off-white platform within a sea of black and patches of wall and ceiling. Furnishings are kept to a minimum - a table, bed, chairs or bench, as needed, brought in by the actors as the rear wall rises to reveal the men standing by to unveil more layers of the mystery of May."

- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

Nina Ball, Set Design

Kurt Landisman, Light Design

Valera Coble, Costume Design

Theodore J.H. Hulsker, Sound Design

Jackie Scott, Properties 

Sofia Dertimanis, Stage Manager

Marin Theatre Company, 2016

By Howard Brenton

Directed by Jasson Minadakis

"Nina Ball’s set is fantastic, evoking an ornate, cathedral-like palace with stag’s head silhouettes on the walls."

-Sam Hurwitt, Marin IJ

Nina Ball, Set Designer

Kurt Landisman, Lighting Designer

Ashley Holvick, Costume Designer

Teddy Hulsker, Sound Designer

Mike Post, Projection Designer

Lizbeth Stanley, Properties

Marin Theatre Company, 2013

By Tom Mula 

Directed by Jon Tracy

Nina Ball, Set designer

Kurt Landisman, Lighting Designer

Heidi Leigh Hanson, Costume Designer

Chris Houston, Sound Designer

Seren Helday, Properties

Sarah Bingel, Stage Manager

Aurora Theatre Company, 2013

A version of Max Frisch's FIREBUGS

by Alistair Beaton

Directed by Mark Jackson

"sleek and elegant set is by Nina Ball and has more than a few menacing surprises tucked away in its loveliness."

- Chad Jones, Theatre Dogs

"...modernist set uses Bauhaus motifs to place the action at both ends of the 20th century at once."

- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

Nina Ball. Scenic Design

Stephanie Buchner, Lighting Dsign

Christine Crook, Costume Design

Matt Stines, Sound Design

Mia Baxter, Properties

Corrie Bennett, Stage Manager

U.C. Berkeley , 2017

By  Mary Zimmerman

Directed by Christopher Herold

“Metamorphoses” makes a star out of the set, magnificently designed by the great Nina Ball." 

- Jeremiah Wall, Theatrius

Nina Ball. Scenic Design

Jack Carpenter, Lighting Design

Wendy Sparks, Costume Design

Ian D. Thomas, Sound Designer

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATRE, 2015

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Aaron Posner

"The set, by Nina Ball, is a series of levels, perfect for tomfoolery, with a large, multicolored backdrop, where doors and signs seem to appear and disappear from areas that become spectacular in their own plainness."  

- Pat Craig, The Mercury News.

Nina Ball, Set Design

David Lee Cuthbert, Light Design

Beaver Bauer, Costume Design

André J. Pluess, Sound Design

Kirsten Royston, Properties

Karen Szpaller, Stage Manager

Napa Valley Conservatory, 2012

By Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler

Directed by Jennifer King

Nina Ball, Set Design

Heather Basarab, Lighting Design

Skipper Skeoch, Costume Design

Eve-Anne Wilkes, Music Director

Jenn Ruygt, Stage Manager

Shotgun Players, 2017

By Edward Albee

Directed by Mark Jackson

"In Ball and Jackson’s vision, the characters are not in a living room but a barren landscape, like that of a Dalí painting, so isolated from the rest of the world that maybe there isn’t a world outside to escape to at all."

-Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle

"Jackson’s set designer, Nina Ball, helps him remove the play from reality (it’s all an illusion anyway) by creating a home without furniture...The vast emptiness is, literally and figuratively, a stage on which George and Martha enact their drama for a late-night audience of two..."  

-Chad Jones, Theatre Dogs

Nina Ball, Set Design

Heather Basarab, Lighting Design

Ashley Holvick, Costume Design

Sara Witsch, Sound Design

Kirsten Royston, Properties

Maggie Manzano, Stage Manager

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2014

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Jon Tracy

"...the entire production is a work of art."

- Jennifer Wong, The Daily Californian

"Nina Ball once again creates an imaginative set for the performers' creativity to take flight."

- Sally Hogarty, San Jose Mercury News

Nina Ball, Set Design

Jon Tracy, Light Design

Ashley Rogers, Costume Design

Matt Stines, Sound Design

Jackie Scott, Properties

Hanah Zahner-Isenberg, Stage Manager

Aurora Theatre Company, 2014

by Johnna Adams

Directed by Jon Tracy

"Questions about bullying, parental responsibility, tween sexuality, blame, over-reactive protectiveness, art and freedom of expression lurk beneath the neat desks and cheerfully pedagogic decor of Nina Ball's bright, all's-right-with-the-world classroom set."

- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

Nina Ball. Scenic Design

Antonia Gunnarson, Costume Design

Cliff Caruthers, Sound Design

Angela Nostrand, Stage Manager

SHOTGUN PLAYERS, 2012

By John Weidman (author), Stephen Sondheim (lyricist, composer)

Directed by Susannah Martin

Dave Moschler, Music Director

"Martin keeps the action compact as Nina Ball's tawdry carousel set begins to resemble the cylinder of a pistol. "

- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

Nina Ball, Set Design

Gabe Maxson, Light Design

Christine Crook, Costume Design

Theodore J.H. Hulsker, Sound Design

Erika Chong Shuch, Choreographer

Jackie Scott, Properties

Hanah Zahner-Isenberg, Stage Manager

Center Repertory Theatre, 2012

By Steve Martin
Adapted from Carl Sternheim
Directed by Michael Butler

“The set is a marvel..." 

- Kedar Adour, For All Events

"You know you're in for a treat when you first see Nina Ball's stylized set..." 

- Sally Hogarty, Mercury News

Nina Ball. Scenic Design

Kurt Landisman, Lighting Design

Victoria Livingston-Hall, Costume Design

Lyle Barrere, Sound Design

Aurora Theatre Company, 2012

By  Kristoffer Diaz 

Directed by Jon Tracy

"Nina Ball’s set – a lifelike wrestling ring backed by giant screens – seems to fill every corner of the theater.  The Aurora has squeezed big sets into its small space before, but this one represents one of the company’s most impressive creations."

- Georgia Rowe, The Examiner

Nina Ball. Scenic Design

Kurt Landisman, Lighting Design

Maggie Whitaker, Costume Design

Cliff Caruthers, Sound Design

Angela Nostrand, Stage Manager

Center REPertory Company, 2015

by Carlo Goldoni

directed by Timothy Near

“All this is played out on a wonderful, brightly colored set (by Nina Ball) that revolves to show the various locations in and around the inn. A sword fight that staggers from room to room as the set keeps spinning is a high point of the second act.”

-David Scott Marley, Scratches

Nina Ball, Set Design

Kurt Landisman, Light Design

Victoria Livingston-Hall, Costume Design

Theodore J.H. Hulsker, Sound Design

Nicole Langley , Stage Manager