pool (no water)
by Mark Ravenhill
NIDA 2019 production, Playhouse Theatre
Directed by Benjamin Schostakowski
Aislinn King- Stage Set, Props, Co-Video, Costume Design
Pool (no water) was a highly conceptual project integrating scenography and dramaturgy from the onset. The design incorporated a large-scale gestural set element conceived as both performance space and projection surface to forge a cohesive design and performance language. The design explored ideas of infinity created by a seamless curve in white; the set as a single element seemingly floating in the theatre.
The abstract nature of the set, costumes and projection responds to the same abstract quality found within the text. The shifts in text formed a rhythmic structure, intensified by colour and sound to absorb the audience perceptually.
We developed a concept that explores artistic process inherent within the script, and so through the design, the actors were presented as real artists creating the content in a studio-like environment live on stage. It was part of the design to highlight this aspect of process, so by creating an elevated floating white infinity wall, the camera, lighting and studio equipment that the artists would be using and moving around their ‘studio’, gained a heightened significance and were placed in focus.
pool (no water) Production Company
Cast
Bronte Thomson-Sparrow
Lewis Mcleod
Mabel Li
Matthew Alexander
Creatives/Crew
Director- Benjamin Schostakowski
Assistant Director- Tait de Lorenzo
Designer Stage Set/Props/Co-Video/Costume- Aislinn King
Video Designer/Systems- Susie Henderson
Sound Designer/Systems- Jennifer Jackson
Lighting Designer- Wun Zee
Head Electrician- Jesse Greig
Set Construction- MNR Construction
Scenic Finishing- Karen Scribbins
Costume Supervisor- Evelyn Everaerts-Donaldson
Costume Assistant- Elsbeth Cameron
Design Assistant- Blake Hedley
Properties Supervisor- Daniel MacKenzie
Production Stage Manager- Mitchell Marinac
Deputy Stage Manager- Daniel Herten
Assistant Stage Manager- Kaitlyn Crocker
Technical Assistant- Joel Mallett
Construction Technologies- Nicholas Day
Design Mentors
Julie Lynch
Stephen Curtis
Tim Chappel