.: An insight into the Design for Captain Crow

This is an interview I did for the Unicorn Theatre on the Design process and where the ideas came from.
Whether you had a chance to see the show or not, I hope you enjoy reading this.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE DESIGN FOR CROW...

1st sketch for the stage design of Captain Crow

‘Let’s do this show in total darkness! with torches, lots of torches! Let’s leave the imagination of the kids run wild. And... one question we should both think about: when do we reveal the monster?’

These are my own words but they are very close to the brief I received from director Matt Lenton on our first meeting in the Unicorn cafe, surrounded by a hundred enthusiastic school children who had just come out of the theatre.

Total darkness... How exciting!
But, wait! What am I supposed to design if we cannot see anything?

In this instance, costumes and details became extremely important.
What the beam of a lamp torch across the space reveals becomes the primary focus.
Any detail lit in the architecture of the space or on the characters and what they wear becomes highly significant.

My intentions for the stage design of Captain Crow as a whole was to personify ‘darkness’ through textures by creating a maze of black netting and knits to densify and physically layer darkness onstage.

References of wool knits used to create the netting of the ‘porthole’

A material that is both nurturing (wool knit) but also reminds us of the ominous presence of the seaside environment (fishing nets).

Architecturally, I wanted to create a space that is both epic in scale and at times very intimate.

It was important for the cast to be able to move organically from the world of Will’s family at the seaside, to the ghostly and imaginary world of Captain Crow’s pirates.

Set Design

THE COSTUMES...

There are 2 different worlds in the costumes:

- Will and his family,

- Captain Crow and his crew of pirates.

The costumes of Will and his brothers are all modern dress, Spring/ Summer 2012 High Street Fashion.

The pirates costumes were all made from scratch and more abstract, an overcross of references between pirates and the palette and textures of crows (the bird).