Comic Book Artist

In June 2013 I made the costumes for Mansfield's Youth Theatre production 'Comic Book Artist'. Unfortunately I haven't got photographs of the finished costumes, but below are the designs:

Brassed Off at Mansfield Palace Theatre

In July 2013 Mansfield Palace Theatre revisited a very popular show from a few years ago. 'Brassed Off' holds a emotional tone for Mansfield audiences, due to the mining history of the town. The shows musical aspects were performed by Newstead Band, a previously colliery band itself.

The show was directed by Christopher Neil and was performed by the Palace's community theatre troupe. 

When the show was originally put on at the Palace the design was the work of Kelly Jago, but due to other commitments she couldn't help realise the recent show. That task was given to me. 

The design was kept the same, apart from the colour of the main set pieces, which Kelly deemed to change. The headstocks, reminiscent of colliery machinery, were originally grey but it was decided that they should be more vibrant, to represent the vitality of spirit the troubled characters conveyed.

I made a model of the set design to present to the actors, coordinated the costumes and props and repainted the set pieces.

Photos of the finished production are below.

Inside Out of Mind at Lakeside Arts Centre

In May/June 2013 I assisted Nettie Scriven once again on a play about the care of dementia patients called 'Inside Out of Mind'. 

The project was an innovative new production written in conjuction with official NHS research into Dementia, by Tanya Meyers. Tanya worked with a team of ethnographers led by Justine Schneider, Professor of Mental Health and Social Care in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, as well as Director Stephan Lowe of Meeting Ground Theatre Group.

The show elegantly and creatively illustrated life for both carers and patients on a dementia ward, only referred to as 'the ward with no name'. 

For this project, as assistant to Nettie Scriven, I re-upholstered some chairs for the set in accordance with Nettie's design. I had never tried upholstery before but found the process to be fairly straight forward, carefully removing the existing chair fabric and using that as a pattern.

Below are the finished chairs:

End of Desire/Escaping Alice at York Theatre Royal

'End of Desire' by David Ireland and 'Escaping Alice' by Matthew Pegg are two one act plays which ran at the York Theatre Royal in Novemeber 2012 in a double bill format. I designed the set, props and costumes for the productions. 

They ran in the Studio Theatre at York. 

The main challenge for the design for to create enough of a contrast between the two plays, while considering the restraints of designing for a limited studio space. 

Initial set design sketch for 'Escaping Alice':

Costume Designs for 'End of Desire':

Costume Designs for 'Escaping Alice':

Final model for 'End of Desire':

Production Photographs for 'End of Desire':

Production Photographs of 'Escaping Alice':

(Photographs by Ben Bentley)

'End of Desire/Escaping Alice'

I am currently designing the Studio autumn double bill 'End of Desire/Escaping Alice' at the York Theatre Royal.

'Grandpa in My Pocket' and 'Gulliver's Travels'

Between January and June this year I design assisted Nettie Scriven for two plays; 'Gulliver's Travels' by Dragonbreath Theatre Company and 'Grandpa in my pocket' at Nottingham Playhouse.

I was predominently involved in model-making for both shows, but on 'Grandpa in my Pocket' I designed some of the props and assisted in the props department at the playhouse.

The following are some photographs from Gulliver's Travels, including some model-making: 

The following are some examples of model-making for grandpa in my pocket:

 

 

 

I designed the 'invention' props for Mr Mentor the Inventors workshop based on the props used in the original television programme:

 

 

 

More photographs of these props will follow...

 

'DreamPlay' by Big Window Theatre Company

In September 2011 I took on the role of design assistant to Nettie Scriven as she designed the set, costume and props for Big Window's production of 'DreamPlay' for very young children and their families.

Big Window endeavor to create inspirational and immersive theatre which will appeal to and stimulate the minds of children, in an intimate and comforting setting. In order to achieve this they are also active in supporting and nurturing local talent.

'DreamPlay', scripted by Peter Rumney, was devised with the intention that small children would know not to be scared of dreaming, and that they would always wake up when they went to sleep.

My role in the production of the play was mainly to create the backdrop of the set; an oriental inspired tree/cloud shape.

Nettie was specific in that she wanted the tree to be thin and fragile looking- whisp was the word she used to describe it. This was illustrated perfectly in the model she had made of the set design but it was harder to create to scale as it needed to be a self-supporting structure which would survive a long tour around Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. After trying out several maquettes I settled on using a rigid netting fabric and running white-sprayed wire through it, like branches, to support it. I layered lace and other netting fabrics onto the base structure to add depth. Visual Scene in Leicester made the bed-like structures and the tree trunk and branches, which all connected together to minimize movement. I used small velcro patches, concealed in the 'foliage' of the tree to attatch the cloud shape onto the branches. 

It was wonderful to see how well the children responded to the environment we created and the way their imaginations were invested entirely in the play and its innovative methods.