At the peak of its performance, Hadid’s stage, a minimalistic “snail,” undulates at a sexually heightened scene of implied undress between the characters. This double entendre gets a big laugh from the audience, but otherwise Hadid’s design is careful not to upstage the actors. Remaining a static but striking platform for the actors’ power struggles, Hadid’s stage is an appropriate route and metaphor for the ups, downs and circuitous twists of the plot, as well as its physiological warfare. In form, Hadid’s stage avoids crafty decorativeness or excessive theatricality and looks rather at ease with the rest of Hadid’s portfolio. While the stage is not strict, it also offers little by way of whimsy. Let’s call it a sophisticated introvert, more on par with a pointed soliloquy rather than changing, rapid-fire dialog. In this case, the stage is there to anchor the many moving parts of the opera.