How I Made This: Ethan Vettese (CFA’26)
As scene designer for Corpus Christi, running April 10 through 13 in CFA’s Studio ONE, Ethan Vettese (CFA’26) oversees the construction and design of the play’s set and the movement of its props
How I Made This: Ethan Vettese (CFA’26)
As scene designer for Corpus Christi, running April 10 through 13 in CFA’s Studio ONE, Ethan Vettese (CFA’26) oversees the construction and design of the play’s set and the movement of its props.
This article was originally published in BU Today on April 8, 2025. By Sophie Yarin. Photos by Cydney Scott
How I Made This is a series from BU Today that explores how Boston University students create their works of art—be it a musical composition, a fiber sculpture, a short story, a painting, and beyond. Are you part of BU’s creative community? Tell us about your work here.
EXCERPT
It‘s a comedy—it’s funny and heartwarming—but it’s also a tragedy. “It has themes of discrimination, hate, finding your people, and above all else, love. Love of each other, love of everyone.” So says Ethan Vettese about Corpus Christi, a play by Terrence McNally that reimagines the life and death of Jesus Christ as a gay highschooler in Corpus Christi, Tex. Vettese (CFA’26), a Boston University junior in the College of Fine Arts School of Theatre, is the play’s scenic designer, and he has been tasked with creating a world that combines the timelessness of the Passion Play with the timeliness of the show’s themes of homophobia and resilience in the face of intolerance. The show runs through April 13 at CFA’s Studio ONE.
HOW I MADE THIS
BU Today: First off, what is the purview of the scenic designer?
Ethan Vettese: We have designers for each field, so as the scenic designer, I deal with the space: what the world feels like, and how the story is told through that world. It’s big, and then it gets smaller and smaller as you’re dealing with props. There are days where you’ll be able to go into the shop and see the show being built and painted, and later you’ll see everything put into the space and the world coming together.
BU Today: So what fits into the world of Corpus Christi? What direction are you taking with it?
Ethan: What we’re doing with Corpus Christi is a little bit different, where we’re not designing a space that depicts what’s written in the script. The script takes place between the 1950s and 1980s, but we’re recreating the BU School of Theatre. We’re creating an amalgamation of a costume shop, a prop shop, a lighting shop, an actor studio, and we’re putting all of them together into one room. Aesthetically, it’s spontaneous. It’s the chaotic mess of the theater world, and it’s all of our lives swirling together into one room.
SHOW INFO
Corpus Christi, directed by Gregg Wiggans (CFA’25), runs Thursday, April 10, through Sunday, April 13, at Studio ONE at the College of Fine Arts, 855 Commonwealth Ave. General admission tickets are $20; purchase here. Free and discounted tickets are available for the BU community; learn more here.