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