I ended up working on Crazy For You by chance. On the creative team interview panel, we realised we were unlikely to find a set designer. Having expressed excitement about the possibilities for building the world of this show to the others, I suddenly found myself on the other side of the table for a set designer interview.

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Taking on a purely creative role challenged me, as previously as a producer I would to fall back on admin if my creative ideas reached their limits. However, despite this early uneasiness, I became really ambitious about what I could achieve with the set design.

 

These focused around three main areas:

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• Transformation

  • Desert dust becoming stage haze & glitz (nostalgic film grain feel)

  • Everyday items becoming instruments (suitcase cajons, saloon door washboards, barrel drums, spoons spoons)

  • Reveals through curtain rises or dust sheet pulls

  • Ladders to frame the stage and suggest ideas of construction/progress

 

• Transportation

  • Suitcases (train, Entrance To Nevada trunks, costumes, Lank)

  • Extension of stage into the venue (path of suitcases/curtains)

  • Authenticity of theatrical world (deed of property, posters, bank letter)

  • Physical transitions in tandem with lighting and sound design

 

• Theatrical magic

  • Surprising set changes (piano transformation, cuckoo clock explosion)

  • Self-aware theatricality - celebration of theatre making

 

As coronavirus spread, it was becoming increasingly clear that the project would not go ahead. We planned many exciting builds which unfortunately were halted midway. Regardless I have included a couple of them below. Who knows, they may be completed one day in the future!