I grew up in a house where something creative or artistic was always happening. I watched my mother create posters for Girl Guide events and painting bible quotes on massive boards for her local church, while my father drew cartoons and did artistic displays of engine oil in his mechanics workshop. My mother was a high school art teacher and my father sold his businesses to become a potter. I studied art history for 6 years in high school and at University I got high distinctions for my art and graphic art units. I created posters for every organisation I have ever been involved with and turned my skills towards numerous income genres including; landscape garden design, computer game modules, and digital animation.
Theatre however is a perfect fit for me as it offers so many varied artistic opportunities. It is my artistic paradise. I can splash paint around on massive canvasses murals to create background sets and flex my digital graphic muscles with advertising posters and programs. The end result is a marvelous 3D space on stage to wow the audience. I will never do the same colour scheme twice, so you can be sure that every show you see will be different to anything you have seen us do before.
Here is a quick glimpse into the most memorable stage sets I have created.
Most fun
The most fun I have ever had creating a stage scene was creating the UV scene from SS Farndale Ave by David McGillivray. It was so nice to do something so completely silly & frivolous. It was wonderful not having to do any straight lines and heaven to use all the beautiful UV fluorescent colours.
My favorite set
It has to be Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard; four rotating panels (2.4 x 1.2 m) with a different scene on each side. One side was a view from the edge of a forest looking across fields to the castle in the distance. The other side was from inside the castles blue-stone walls looking out a window to the forest in the distance. I created it with my daughter and it a lot of fun and I loved every second of it. I was worried about running out of shades of grey for the outside vista but only had to go back and remix and repaint one section once.
The Hardest set
The hardest stage I have ever set was “Hello From Bertha” by Tennessee Williams. We had done several shows in muted palettes (greys and browns) and I was determined to do something completely different. I wanted to swap it around, so instead of having a neutral background & the cast being the highlight, I wanted a bright stage in RED with the cast in white. After doing this play, I understood why no one ever does their set in just red. It is a nightmare. Trying to get different red tones to match was almost the end of me. A red paint sample card does not indicate what it looks like when painted in a large surface area and as a result everything was repainted 3 times until we got a red that worked. Throw fabrics, textures and props into that equation and we had 16 elements that had to work together in harmony. I got there in the end but it was ridiculously difficult to coordinate.
Most proud
The set that I am most proud of is the last one I did, Men! by William Booth. I knew it was going to be nice, but I hadn’t expected it to fall together quite so well. The background mural was originally only B&W & I wanted to paint a view in colour through the windows. I had zero confidence in my ability to pull it off. I spent hours in preparation with diagrams, ideas & references. And much to my surprise it worked really well and pulled the whole setting together. It was so effective when lit, it was a bit disconcerting.
Next year
The two sets that we will make in 2020 will be fantastic too and I can’t wait to reveal them. They are both finished in my head already and both will be fabulous for very different reasons. One of them will use a colour we have never featured before and the other will be avant guard to say the least. We will be building them both from scratch - so there will be working bees - let us know if you'd like to come and help. I look forward to sharing my plans and ideas for them as we get closer so you can see how I/we turn the vision in my head, into a reality.
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