ANIMALS OUT OF PAPER Hudson Stage Company
"Shoko Kambara’s multi-location set serves the script with practical efficiency, a trick in Hudson Stage’s Whippoorwill Theater space." - DAVID DEWITT, NEW YORK TIMES
PRINCE OF PLAYERS Houston Grand Opera
"Shoko Kambara sets a high-water mark for elegant restraint in set design with simple racks of dangling costumes or stage curtains, a spare chandelier and an imposing chair conveying just enough grandeur. A fluidly rotating stage makes for seamless transitions and easy pace." - JOSEPH CAMPANA, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
"And I haven’t even gotten to the sets and costumes. Man, oh, man. Heaps of praise are due to Michael Shell, making an exceptional Opera Philadelphia debut, but loads of praise is due for Shoko Kambara’s modernist set design, Amanda Seymour’s playful and arresting costume design (those policemen!), Driscoll Otto’s lighting design and David Zimmerman’s wig and make-up manipulation." - BILL CHENEVERT, THE PHILLY REVIEW
"The Almodóvar-inspired set designs by Shoko Kambara, costume designs by Amanda Seymour, and lighting by Driscoll Otto are stunning." - DAVID BROWNING, BACHTRACK
"What a wonderful romp! From the brisk and beautiful opening overture–from conception to execution–this was a frothy, foamy, and wholly hilarious show that made opera buffa as relevant and entertaining today as it was when it was written. Credit the over-the-top direction by Michael Shell for the show’s overwhelming success. He envisioned a production as eye-opening as the one audiences experienced in Rossini’s day. Hence, we see carnival performers to dancing chickens to the lead tenor masquerading as a hippie-dippy music teacher. His entire creative team, including the whimsical set design by Shoko Kambara, carried out Shell’s vision to a tee." - OPERATOONITY.COM
"The show is beyond memorable. Its unforgettable." - ANDREW GARRIGUE RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH
DON PASQUALE Juilliard School
"Shoko Kambara’s attractive sets placed the action in Italy in the early 1960s, with Norina as a news vendor who operates her stand near posters advertising mopeds and “Lolita.” The Don’s dusty, book-filled living room received a stylish contemporary makeover after Norina’s shopping spree." - VIVIEN SCHWEITZER, NY TIMES
"Norina redecorated Pasquale's abode - courtesy of Shoko Kambara's tour de force set design - for the dolce vita of the late '50s." - FRED COHN, OPERA NEWS