Studying BA (Hons) Design for Costume and Performance at AUB has created unique experiences that have developed both my skills and personal growth.
A key moment of my university experience was the being selected as the set designer for the 2025 spring production of The Visit. The production is a huge collaboration amongst the courses (design, costume, make-up and acting) – it was super exciting to be able to work in this environment and see my design come to life.
In the design process, I was widely inspired by the Surrealist and 1920s German Expressionist movements. I found inspiration in the uncomfortable and odd nature of many artists of the period – in particular, the work of German woodcut artist Jacob Pins. Art movements such as Bauhaus place emphasis on strong rigid lines, which I wanted to incorporate. In researching German Expressionism, I discovered the film Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and adored it. The off nature of it works perfectly with the ideas of David O’Shea (the director) and the themes of the play.
Moreover, architecture became a key research point where I focused on German and Swiss influences. I found creativity in the brutalist nature of many of the buildings and used this to drawn upon with the strong lines which created crisp shadows. Making slight alternations to the buildings such as shifting the shadows and inverting them to tilting something by 75˚ to create a conceptual appearance of a town like a distorted memory.
Due to the black and white monochromatic style of the set, it is dependent on the stage lighting to create an atmosphere, and it can look completely different once again aiding this dream-like hallucination of a place. The tower acts as this Orwellian form of surveillance and the unease of being watched. The tower is designed to create eye imagery when an actor is placed in it. Furthermore, I used the buildings to create multiple accesses to the stage for the actors to appear like ants running in an out in a Kafkaesque nature.
Bringing this design to life allowed me to experience work in scenic painting, design meetings, technical rehearsals and finally show nights. All occasions allowed me to push and develop my skills as a designer. I am excited to push my skills further as I have also been selected to come back and be the costume and set designer for the 2025 Autumn production of Orpheus and Eurydice.
The course has given me a wide range of skills in the industry such as modelmaking, sewing, scenic painting, illustration and many more. In my time in the course, I have specialised in set design, falling in love with modelmaking – I found a passion for scale models and creating detailed pieces.
One of my favourite models was a speculative design for the AUB Emilia! production. I found in my final unit I wanted to take the opportunity to utilise all my skills and revisit things I had previously left behind, primarily costume. I decided to revisit costume design and illustration and really enjoyed it. These designs will be brought to life in the Orpheus and Eurydice production, which will be a new and exciting challenge.
The course has given me a unique learning experience and graduating with a first-class honours and the early career performance design award has been the dream of a lifetime. I wish to give a big thank you to all the lectures, technicians and my peers.
