Q. What drew you to theatre design as a career?
I was always interested in art and drama at school, but I always saw them as completely different disciplines. It was only when I went to Leeds College of Art that I realised that Theatre Design was a career, and it suddenly all made sense to me that that was what I wanted to do. Once I knew it was a possibility, I suddenly couldn’t get enough of discovering amazing designers like Es Devlin, Rae Smith, Michael Vale – to name just a few of my first eye-openers. And I would just get this feeling in my stomach that I wanted to make people feel the way that I was feeling at that moment. I am very lucky that I had family who advised and guided me in the right direction, I would like to make sure more young people know the expanse of roles available to them in the industry, not just those ‘in the know’.
I always come from the stance of ‘what is the message to the audience?’, ‘how is this relevant to society right now?’
Q. Tell us a bit about your interests and approach to designing?
I’m a sucker for a good drama but I also like anything that challenges me and lets me explore my style further and further. I am definitely drawn to productions that have an edge to them, or an exploration of emotion. I describe myself as ‘thematic’ in my approach; I always come from the stance of ‘what is the message to the audience?’, ‘how is this relevant to society right now?’, ‘what emotions are at the core of this scene?’. I will never begin designing before I really know what I am aiming to portray to the audience. And then when I do I’m always drawn to strong shapes, textures and explorations of light.
Q. What three words would you use to describe the job of a theatre set & costume designer?
Exhilarating, Exhausting, Unexpected
Q. How has your experience been this year - what has helped you navigate the pandemic and the closing and virtualisation of theatre?
Like everyone in the industry, it has been a tough slog. Most days it’s a struggle just to find a reason to keep trying and question if you have a future in the industry. It stopped me from taking the path I thought I needed, but instead opened up opportunities that I never thought possible in my first couple of years working, let alone in a pandemic. I have worked with some amazing companies who I thought were beyond me and they’ve made me look at design in a different way – understanding how theatre is important to communities, and that my work doesn’t have to be in the form we have always known it. I also cannot understate the importance of Society Of British Theatre Designers, Scene Change and our own Whitecard Collective in creating supportive and exciting communities and bringing designers together more than ever before. I honestly wouldn’t have made it through without the multitude of brilliant people and new friends that I have met over the last year.
The more we support and celebrate other artists, the more we will rise up and succeed together. There is space for everyone if we make it.
Q. You recently won the Evening Standard X TikTok Future Theatre Fund for Visual Design. Firstly congratulations! Can you tell us a bit about this opportunity and the next steps that are in store?
Thank you! That was a totally unexpected turn up for the year. I was nominated by Leeds Playhouse for my recent work with Red Ladder Theatre Company and I was so grateful just to be thought of in the first place alongside lots of designers I admire. And I always apply for things and then I like to forget that I did so that I can’t be disappointed later, so when I got the email saying I was shortlisted while I was working my call centre job, I was totally surprised. And then we were sort of tricked into this Zoom on the premise of it just being an interview and there was Morgan Large telling me I’d won! Which I just couldn’t believe for a while and I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone. It’s such a brilliant initiative, it gifts 12 young creatives in varying disciplines with £10,000 to help their career and industry mentoring. So I’m hoping to use some of that to create a Yorkshire Design Network which will be a hub for all disciplines of designers in the area. Stay tuned…
Q. You are one of the founders of the Whitecard Collective, a unique community offering support and guidance for freelance designers. Could you tell us a bit about how it started and what you are up to at the moment?
Whitecard Collective was brilliantly thought of by Alana Ashley and Roisin Martindale and it was created with the aim of providing support and community for graduate designers in a time when we felt we were being left behind. We wanted to make sure that early-career voices were part of the conversations happening in the industry and that a generation of talent wasn’t going to be lost. Since then we have put together some brilliant content – we have run workshops, learnt skills from top designers, been active voices for change. Next up we have an awesome Director/Designer Speed Dating Event with the lovely Mrs C’s Collective and we have a workshop exploring fees vs expectations later in the month, which is our third event with the Young Vic. We are also working hard behind the scenes with other societies to create more accessible info and opportunities for new graduates.
Q. How can theatre freelancers of other crafts; be it directors, writers, performers or producers, for example, be a greater ally to theatre designers?
I think it is all about taking the time to listen and understand. That’s designers included! We all need to look outside of our own work and familiarise ourselves with the processes of other disciplines. It’ll help strengthen relationships, avoid conflicts and generally make the industry a more fair and understanding place. We will discuss all this in our next workshop actually, so do come along. What I always say is that we must remember that we are not in competition with each other, the more we support and celebrate other artists, the more we will rise up and succeed together. There is space for everyone if we make it.
Oh, and don’t drink and scalpel.
Q. The Whitecard Collective have teamed up with Mrs C - amazing! Can you tell our readers a bit about the collaboration and why you chose to work with us on this?
We are so excited about this collab! The Director/Designer Creative Speed Dating will bring creatives to meet people they may never have the opportunity to cross paths with otherwise. It will be great to see people summarise their work into a bitesize chunk and hopefully lead to some brilliant collaborations in the future. Mrs C has been running such amazing content during the pandemic, it just seemed a perfect match to bring our audiences together at a time like this. I hope we can do more in the future.
Q. It is a pivotal moment in the theatre profession as we prepare to reopen after a turbulent year in the pandemic. Change, reflection and new paths are opening up. What would you like to see happen within our industry that maybe hasn’t happened before?
I think there is so much hunger for change and I hope that in the rush to reopen all the groundwork over the last year isn’t just thrown aside. What I have seen is some real uncovering and discussion about deep-rooted inequalities in the industry and what I would like is theatres and companies to take action to change systems that have been in place for the comfort of a select few. But equally, I would like to see those working at all levels to come in with more empathy and understanding for those working around us, and for everyone to make that bit of effort to make the industry a more stable and sustainable career for others.
Q. Any top tips for fellow freelance and emerging designers?
Don’t compare yourself! Everyone has their own route into the industry, and it takes years and years to build yourself to where you want to be. No one is going to get there the same way or at the same time or even have the same end destination – and that’s the best bit about it! I have to remind myself this every day but once you do, you can start to enjoy the journey instead of always looking for the next best thing. Oh, and don’t drink and scalpel.