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BA Theatre Design: the inspirations behind Graduate Showcase 2021

Digital design of space, blue and purple lights and colours. The text, ‘SLEEP’ is cut out of the wall.

Written byGrizelda  Kitching 
Published date 10 September 2021

What goes on behind a BA Theatre Design graduate project?

Wenling Wu and Rhianna Hyland talk about the creative ideas that inspired their UAL Graduate Showcase 2021 submissions: a dystopian world and making Shakespeare more accessible for children.

Rhianna Hyland

The Tempest – Speculative Design

I was inspired not only by the text, but also by my own dislike of Shakespeare.

When reading The Tempest, I found much of the story seemed like the sort of thing kids would make up: magic, falling in love the moment you meet someone, princes, and princesses - it all seemed very youthful.

As someone who never really understood the appeal of Shakespeare, I thought about whether an introduction to it at a younger age, and in a way that made it fun, would have helped. I became inspired by this idea of The Tempest being a story that a group of children created together, while they played on an abandoned playground. This is what led me to decide to do an all-child cast production of The Tempest, set in a location that children can relate to and brings them joy.

Design for 3 characters from the Tempest – Iris, Ceres and Juno. Iris, is a white skinned, blonde female, wearing a rainbow-coloured dress and blue flipflops. Ceres, is a black skinned female, wearing a white dress with a lemon patterned design and yellow shoes. Juno, is a white skinned, black-haired female, wearing a blue dress with a cloud/sky design and red flip flops. — **Rhianna Hyland,** **The Tempest Gods, 2021**
BA (Hons) Theatre Design, Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL | Photograph: Rhianna Hyland

The Prospero character design drawing, showing a white male, with dark hair. The character is wearing shorts and jacket in a camouflage-coloured pattern. — **Rhianna Hyland,** **The Tempest, Prospero,. 2021**
BA (Hons) Theatre Design, Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL | Photograph: Rhianna Hyland

For this project I decided I wanted to learn how to use SketchUp (a 3D modelling computer program). I made my model box using the programme and rendered it using V-ray (an image rendering software). This really allowed me to experiment more and made the sketch modelling process much quicker. I did my costumes with watercolours, as I really wanted a broad array of colours.

I think the pandemic has really made me consider how I create work, both physically and digitally, but also how I present it. It is an incredibly important part of our practice, but the pandemic made it impossible for us to physically explain our concepts, so I really had to think more about how I could still communicate an idea clearly.

See more of Rhianna’s work on the UAL Graduate Showcase 2021.

Storyboard of sketches of scenes, including a birds eye view of the set — **Wenling Wu,** **Storyboard page, 2021**
BA (Hons) Theatre Design, Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL | Photograph: Wenling Wu

Wenling Wu

The Russian Sleep Experiment is a Creepypasta (horror-related legends that have been copied and pasted around the Internet) story.

The story is reimagined in a dystopian world, with the aesthetics of the cyberpunk theme, techno music and features of a motherboard. The live performance takes place in a virtual reality (VR) space, held in Illuminate in the Science Museum.

The audience are invited to partake an immersive experience before watching the VR performance and end their experience with the opportunity to look behind the scenes and explore the making of this performance.

Storyboard of sketches of scenes — **Wenling Wu,** **Storyboard page 2, 2021**
BA (Hons) Theatre Design, Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL | Photograph: Wenling Wu

I knew I did not want to design for a physical space. I wanted to investigate another meaning of live performance, on another platform. This is where the idea of a VR performance came in.

When reading the story, I became obsessed with the last dialogue - I was drawn into the fact that it highlights how we, as humans, are hiding a monster deep within us. When positioned in the right kind of environment and scenario, something dark is bound to unleash from deep within us.

Keeping this idea in mind, I began to explore into how our minds work and what compels us to do certain things - control psychology. With every person, there is a different level of need to control their environment and those around them. I wanted to create a performance where the actions of the actors are controlled by the audiences, their morals questioned and put to a test. I hoped this would allow themselves to self-observe within the moment.

I chose Illuminate at the Science Museum because of its relevance to the story I am designing from. It also had a panoramic view of London. It gave me the idea of creating an illusion of stepping into another world after the audiences have finished with their VR performance.

See more Wenling’s work on the UAL Graduate Showcase 2021.

2 figures are standing with in a blue lit room one figure is watching a blank screen. — **Wenling Wu,** **Close up of spatial design, 2021**
BA (Hons) Theatre Design, Wimbledon College of Arts, UAL | Photograph: Wenling Wu

Visit the UAL Graduate Showcase 2021
Find out more about BA Theatre Design

BA Theatre Design: the inspirations behind Graduate Showcase 2021

Rhianna Hyland

Wenling Wu

Wimbledon College of Arts

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