We recently connected with Josh Martinez-Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Josh, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I would have to say working on “The Real Housewives of The Restoration” with director Stevie Walker-Webb, Costume Designer Kindal Almond and Oral Long, and Scenic Designer Anton Volovsek was my greatest project to date. So much of the core teaching at NYU, where I got my MFA, is about collaboration between the designers and directors. This project took that to a new level adding in a collaboration with the actors as well. The whole idea of this show was devised work. We took a full script from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and multiple Restoration era texts and made this production. With the help of Cardi B’s WAP as well as the whole twitter exchange between her and Melania Trump, we decided to explore sexuality and sexual expression with a twist. In giving the female characters agency over their sexuality and making the men worry about being promiscuous, we decided to flip the genders of the characters thus warping the audiences vision of the play as a whole. This process from start to finish became a cornerstone of my expectations for a smooth and meaningful collaboration in my profession. The constant communication and exploration of each element truly made this a meaningful project. We were not costume and lighting and scenic designers, we were artists and story tellers working together to create a show that would have a lasting impact on the audience.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Josh Martinez-Davis. I got my BA in Theatre Arts from Westmont College in Montecito California in 2018. It was during my Junior Year that I fell in love with lighting design. My professor Jonathan Hicks was giving our Intro to Lighting class that color theory lector and seeing the costumes change and dance on stage without moving was beautiful. After that I took a gap year and participated in a few medical missions trips as I was planning on Medical School when I first started college and still had that in my mind, but also designed the lights for a few shows around the Southern California Area. During this time a reflected on what I wanted to do with my life and who I wanted to be. I ended up on choosing theatre and that fall of 2019 I started at NYU. The program at TISCH’s Department of Design for Stage and Film truly elevated me as a designer. Giving me core skills that I had not yet mastered as I came to lighting so late, as well as some new tricks. But most of all my friends/collaborators/peers in the department, especial my fellow Lighting Designers (LD’s) who I often work with, are the people who molded me into the designer I am today. I try to take a few lessons from each LD I work with and there are a few who I try to consistently collaborate with as they all look at things differently than I do. There is one designer who has helped me unlock a new understanding of color both as a tool to evoke emotion but as a way to mold a space and world. People like this help me continue to grow and I can’t thank them enough.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I try to dive into the story onstage on a personal level. I like to say a lighting designer is a tour guide of emotion and direction and if I make a personal connection to the action on stage it helps fuel my creativity. I love just watching a run of the show and sitting in the audience and focusing on one characters arc threw the piece. What they feel in this moment and why is it different or the same as another character. Who’s mind are we living in during this scene? Sitting there and just losing myself in the action stage helps me move a lot faster during the tech windows but it also helps me make a deeper and real connection to the piece. Who are we as creatives to ask an audience member to have a real, raw, powerful emotion connection to the art if we as the designers did not do the same thing when we created it?

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Seeing an audience member have an emotional response to the art on stage. I am always looking to help someone make a connection to the story on stage but seeing the reaction first hand and the raw aspect of emotion on a persons face is thrilling.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joshmartinezdavis.com
• Instagram: @did_someone_say_lights
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-martinez-davis-49444589