The illustrator Jeff Rogers had at least two things in mind when he created a poster for the play “Pocatello,” which is set in an Italian-themed chain restaurant: unlimited salad and breadsticks.
“I grew up in Texas and we went to Olive Garden all the time,” Mr. Rogers said. “I understand the feeling of that. I tried to capture the faux rustic-ness of that space.”
This new play by Samuel D. Hunter, which opened on Monday at Playwrights Horizons, centers on Eddie, the manager of a troubled Olive Garden-like restaurant in Idaho. Mr. Rogers’s digitally drawn artwork, in shades of dark green and brown, features the character with his back to the viewer, standing inside the empty restaurant and gazing out a brightly lit window.
Mr. Rogers recently spoke with Erik Piepenburg about elements that inspired his work. Following are excerpts from the conversation.
The play is set at a restaurant. What happens there, and how is that reflected in your artwork?
The play is about this manager of a super-cheesy Midwestern chain restaurant. He’s trying to hold everything together. He knows it’s going to close down, but he’s not telling anyone. His family life isn’t great. He’s trying to reconcile his relationships. It’s funny and it’s really kind of sad too.
Why did you decide to depict the inside of a restaurant instead of something more abstract?
The first round of ideas that I sent to Playwrights Horizons were more comedy based. We tried to figure out if we needed to sell it as a comedy or drama. I sent over really weird images, like a guy with a bowl of spaghetti for a head, suggesting the scrambled existence of this guy. They were more drawn to the interior of the restaurant because I think they thought it might communicate more straightforwardly what it was about.
How did you turn those ideas into your poster?
There was something powerful about showing this central character in this blank dark space, almost trapped. He’s standing next to the exit door in the back, like he could leave anytime he wants. But he’s standing there holding up the fort.
Did you have a specific restaurant or space in mind when you designed it?
It’s a very narrow space that he’s standing in, like the end of the restaurant, the area that you go to at 3 in the afternoon when that section is closed. I worked at an Italian food chain in college. I’d have lunch back there in the empty room, eating my soup. The image is supposed to be early morning. The sun’s coming up and he’s been there all night and he’s waiting for his family or his employees to show up. He’s looking outside, and feeling hopefulness in the midst of emptiness.
The font for the title of the play looks hand-drawn.
It is. It needed to feel a little off to echo the feeling of things being not right, which is sort of a metaphor for the play. I wasn’t careful to make the lines perfectly straight. Also it gives it a human quality, like he almost could have drawn it, like someone took the time to draw it. The human quality is important to the play.
“Pocatello” is at Playwrights Horizons through Jan. 4.