For many children, theatre is a first encounter with space, colour, sound, and collective attention, and long before plot or language fully register, what stays is the feeling of being inside a world that moves, shifts, and responds. In productions made for young audiences, design carries that responsibility quietly but decisively.
This is especially true at Children’s Theatre Company, the Minneapolis-based institution known for shaping early theatre experiences with care and ambition. In early 2026, CTC presents Go, Dog. Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve!, a bilingual musical adaptation of P.D. Eastman’s classic book, running from January 20 to February 22 on the UnitedHealth Group Stage. Fast-paced and visually bold, the production moves between English and Spanish with ease, creating a shared space where rhythm, colour, and movement lead the storytelling.
Lighting plays a central role in making that world readable and engaging. Designed by Paul Whitaker, the show’s lighting is inspired directly by the visual logic of the original book. White space is a canvas punctuated by strong, deliberate blocks of colour that signal shifts in place, mood, and energy. Scenes develop clearly, transitions are easy to follow, and visual cues remain consistent for an audience experiencing theatre with fresh eyes.
Whitaker, a long-time collaborator of CTC and a partner at Schuler Shook, worked closely with scenic designer Sara Ryung Clement and costume designer Danielle Nieves to create a unified visual language. The set’s simplicity allows light to do much of the narrative work, while costumes anchor character and movement within each scene. Music, performed live on stage, further guides the pacing, with lighting responding directly to its rhythm and tone.
In this Q&A, Whitaker speaks about designing for clarity rather than excess, about working with colour at a scale children immediately understand, and about the importance of giving each scene a distinct visual identity. He also reflects on the care required when designing for bilingual storytelling, where every line matters and nothing can be visually secondary.
Go, Dog. Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! is built on joy, motion, and precision. Through light, it offers young audiences a clear path through a busy, playful world, and gives the adults with them a reminder of how powerful simple, well-made theatre can be.
This production runs on pure joy, colour and movement. How did you approach creating a lighting world that captures the spirit of P. D. Eastman’s book and brings it into a live, buzzing theatre space for young audiences?
The book is very deliberate in its use of colour. Most of the pages have a white background and only the dogs and objects are colourful. Then there are some pages that have these very unique full colour backgrounds. I tried to echo that with the lighting. We have a white set, so I have the ability to light it as a white set, or to quickly fill it with colour. I think the juxtapositions of the white box vs full explosions of colour will be a way to create excitement and move from scene to scene.
The show shifts between English and Spanish with ease. How does your lighting help guide the storytelling in a way that keeps everything clear and inviting for very young viewers?
As a Latino who grew up in a bilingual household, I like that Spanish and English are intertwined in the script. I don’t think we need to necessarily highlight the English and Spanish lines differently, but since there are very few lines in the script, all the text is sacred and has to be dramatically highlighted.
Each dog has its own personality and rhythm. Did you create a specific colour palette or visual identity for different characters or key moments?
We are basing the colours and each world on the different scenes, much like the book. The work scene has its own feel, that is hard and industrial. The boat scene will strive to look just like the book in watery blue greens. The bedtime scene should hopefully look just like a cosy bedroom at night.
Juliette Carrillo describes the show as playful and full of surprises. How did you use lighting to support the humour, timing and all the big laugh moments?
Big changes in tone colour, done quickly or slowly depending on the moment, can help support the humour and bolster what the actors are doing on stage.
Go, Dog. Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! moves through many imaginative locations. How do your transitions keep the momentum going without overwhelming little ones who are taking it all in at once?
Like the book, we are concentrating on big blocks of colour, so the transitions are very clear for the little ones. The lighting will help structure the piece by giving a signature look to each scene.
Kids respond so honestly to colour, shape and atmosphere. What was important to you when designing for an audience that experiences theatre with so much openness?
We really wanted to detail this with big blocks of colour and huge transitions in between scenes. We think that creating this large-scale scenic logic will help the kids follow along.
The musicians are onstage and add their own energy to the world. How does your lighting shape the musical moments and the feeling they create?
We want the musicians to feel a part of the world just like the actors. The music sets the tone of the piece and helps convey us from place to place. The lighting will often take its cues from the music.
You collaborated closely with scenic designer Sara Ryung Clement and costume designer Danielle Nieves. How did the three of you align the visual language so that lighting lifts the world instead of competing with it?
The book is so iconic that everyone is taking their cues from that. Sara provided a big white box for the set, much like the blank background of the book. Danielle’s costumes recall the characters of the book and help the audience follow who’s who. My job is to provide a world for each scene and to highlight all the fun things that Sara and Danielle have included in their work.
The book is a classic that many adults grew up with. What mattered to you in keeping the charm of the original while still giving the design a fresh and modern feel?
I think Sara’s set has placed us in the world of the book, but with a slightly more modern take. The lighting is going to feel bold while still taking many cues from the visual language of the book.
When the lights fade at the end of the show, what do you hope both kids and the grownups with them carry home from your design?
I hope the lighting will convey the pure joy and sense of play that emanates from these characters and the little stories contained in the book.
