Alrighty, I've gone through all of your great posts and comments and I've tried to compile a list of key words and phrases that seem to be common themes for everyone.
--fallen expectations
--this play is about absence as much as presence
--washed out
--drained
--extreme
--the cramped-ness of open space
--haunting**this gave me some thoughts about how we might want the audience to feel...as though they have left the play but the play hasn't left them, it stays with them even after they leave the theater**
--delicate
--consumption
--overwhelmed, trapped, oppressed
--water--vast nothingness that crushes you
--simplicity
--artificial**this one also really spoke to me, the lake of natural-ness in this house. It reminded me of Father and the medicine he takes in an attempt to make his mind more natural, but in some ways it makes him more artificial**
--oversaturation vs. desaturation
--limitations
--precarious
--phoenix rising albeit burned **I LOVED THIS LIZZY, I can't think of a word that evokes that idea, so I just kept your original phrase**
--dynamic vs. stagnant
--neglect
--deterioration
I think Kathi hit upon an important aspect of the play in her post, which is that glimmer of hope. That glimmer of beauty in all this horror. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie Blue Valentine (if you haven't you should), it's incredibly beautiful and incredibly heartbreaking.
I was also really intrigued by the song Kathi posted. There was something really perfect about the ukulele...it's such a strange instrument: like a guitar but miniature and silly. It has sparked me to start compiling a playlist of songs that are inspiring for me. I'm gonna try to turn into a zip file and email it all to you guys later this week. I encourage you all to go through your itunes and pick out some songs, sometimes it can feel refreshing to think about the design sonically as opposed to constantly trying to look for images.
I think the step is to keep looking for images, and to maybe start narrowing in on specifics. We're starting to gather a collective vocabulary, which is great and I think will help provide more direction as we search for more images. Let's all think about the elements of design: texture, balance, contrast, shape, line, color.