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In Pictures: BA Theatre Design collaborates with Lyric Hammersmith Theatre

A stage with 2 people embracing. The set behind them contains a small triangle shaped wall with floral wallpaper and empty hanging gold picture frames. On the floor are 3 vases of flowers.
  • Written byGeorgina Lampen
  • Published date 10 May 2022
A stage with 2 people embracing. The set behind them contains a small triangle shaped wall with floral wallpaper and empty hanging gold picture frames. On the floor are 3 vases of flowers.
The Importance of Being Earnest designed by BA Theatre Design students Fiona Wagstaff and George Zhou 2022 Directed by Samara Gannon. Photography: Harry Elletson

Earlier this year, final year students from BA Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Arts collaborated with Lyric Hammersmith Theatre as part of Evolution Festival 2022. In its 6th year, the festival showcases emerging talent, exciting new writing and re-imagined classics across the Lyric stages and cinema.  

As part of the festival, BA Theatre Design students collaborated with the emerging directors of the Young Lyric theatre to create 4 Evolution Labs where they reinterpreted 4 classic plays to create contemporary works of drama.  

Evolution Labs was set up in 2016 by the Young Lyric theatre and the BA Theatre Design course to give early-career directors and designers the opportunity to meet and work together on projects. It gives a platform for young theatre makers to produce new works for the stage and screen. Artists from previous years have gone on to create shows at the Lyric, the Vaults, the Bunker Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre and the Young Vic.  

The Evolution Labs 2022 performances featured 4 plays:

  • Electra, designed by students' leva levina and Eilyn Cheung
  • The Importance of Being Earnest, designed by students Fiona Wagstaff and George Zhou
  • Yerma, designed by students Raffi Philcox and Peijia Luo
  • Three Sisters, designed by students Sonya Smullen and Jiayi Zhu.
A woman in a red coat looks to be shouting, she faces forward. The stage is set, there is a watering can on the floor and white sheets draped over metal wire messed with leaves scattered.
Electra designed by BA Theatre Design students leva levina and Eilyn Cheung 2022 Directed by Mo Korede. Photography Harry Elletson
A stage set, 2 people stand facing each other holding hands. 1 is dressed in red, the other white with her wrists in chains. The woman in white stands among bed sheets and teddy bears with leaves scattered.
Electra designed by BA Theatre Design students leva levina and Eilyn Cheung 2022 Directed by Mo Korede. Photography Harry Elletson
A woman on her hands and knees crawls in a dark lit space, she is surrounded by bed sheets, teddy bears and leaves and looks to be distressed.
Electra designed by BA Theatre Design students leva levina and Eilyn Cheung 2022 Directed by Mo Korede. Photography Harry Elletson
A stage set with 2 people. One is sitting down on a brown wooden chair writing in a note pad, the other is standing side- on looking at the person sitting down. The stage is set with a large gold empty picture frame which towers over the actors. In the background the backdrop is made up of 2 floral walls each with empty gold picture frames.
The Importance of Being Earnest designed by BA Theatre Design students Fiona Wagstaff and George Zhou 2022. Directed by Samara Gannon. Photography Harry Elletson
A stage set, on the right 2 people face each other and seem to holding a conversation. On the left a person stands chin up looking forward while another person hangs off their arm looking at the floor. The stage is set with a large gold empty picture frame which towers over the actors. In the background the backdrop is made up of 2 floral walls each with empty gold picture frames.
The Importance of Being Earnest designed by BA Theatre Design students Fiona Wagstaff and George Zhou 2022. Directed by Samara Gannon. Photography Harry Elletson
A stage set with 2 people. One is sitting on the floor and is having their hair played with by a person crouched over behind them. The set is darkly lit, and a large gold empty picture frame towers over the actors.
The Importance of Being Earnest designed by BA Theatre Design students Fiona Wagstaff and George Zhou 2022. Directed by Samara Gannon. Photography Harry Elletson
2 women dressed in traditional Ghanaian dresses are standing opposite each other. One is holding a baby, whilst the other is holding a broom. The stage is set with a tree, two stalls and a hut.
Yerma designed by BA Theatre Design students Raffi Philcox and Peijia Luo 2022. Directed by Jessica Mensah. Photography Alex Forey
A stage set, with 3 women stood on a platform, behind them white sheets hang and above them sheets of paper have been pegged to a line across the stage.
Three Sisters designed by BA Theatre Design students Sonya Smullen and Jiayi Zhu 2022. Directed by Alessandra Davison. Photography Alex Forey
At the forefront, a woman is holding a baby, in the background a woman on a platform is sitting reading a book. On the far left and right of the stage shadows of two women have been projected onto white sheets.
Three Sisters designed by BA Theatre Design students Sonya Smullen and Jiayi Zhu 2022. Directed by Alessandra Davison. Photography Alex Forey
The stage lit in orange and red. In the foreground a woman stands smiling while holding the back of her head. Another woman on a platform looks down on her. In the background another woman is stood reading a book. 
Three Sisters designed by BA Theatre Design students Sonya Smullen and Jiayi Zhu 2022. Directed by Alessandra Davison. Photography Alex Forey

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