Nicky Bunch, who trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, is one of the most promising contemporary designers of theatre sets. She has worked on a wide variety of projects from classics such as ‘Macbeth’, ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘Playboy of the Western World’ to more experimental works, such as ‘Sound Dust’ at Theatre 503.
When the designer of theatre sets begins work, they need to balance many things. These include the budget, the space they are working in, the director’s vision of the play and, of course, the play itself.
One of Nicky’s most impressive theatre sets was the one for a production of John Galsworthy’s ‘Loyalties’, which was staged at the Finborough Theatre in London. The space is a small one, typical of many pub theatres, and is effectively a black box. Normally plays are staged in the space end-on. That is to say the action takes place at one end of the room and the seats are arranged as they would be in a traditional theatre. However, Nicky and Phil Willmott, the director, wanted the play to resonate with a modern audience even though it was originally written in the 1920′s. They decided to do this by placing the audience as close as they could to the action. This was done by using a traverse staging, with the audience sat either side of the action.
Don’t forget that whatever your budget, we at Keeley Hire can help when it comes to designing your theatre sets.
