The Stage

Rebecca Brower: winner by design

Published Friday 3 February 2012 at 16:44

Ted Loveday, managing director and custodian of Brunskill and Loveday Theatrical Scenery Archive donated £500 to the winner of our joint set design competition. AK Bennett-Hunter talks to lucky recipient Rebecca Brower, who was presented with the award at The Stage New Year party on January 27

What attracted you to enter this competition?

I have always enjoyed reading The Stage, so when I saw the competition it became the next challenge I wanted to tackle. It was interesting that the brief asked for the technical/ construction explanation behind the design, and it forced me not only use my imagination, but also to be practical.

How did you become interested in the theatre, and what led you to choose design as a discipline?

I had always loved drama at school and would regularly go to London with friends and family to see West End musicals, the RSC touring shows, and shows at the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre. When I got to the sixth form, I was asked to design the set for our school’s production of Blood Brothers and I finally felt I had found something I was passionate about and could deliver on a practical level.

While doing my art foundation course, I researched more into career opportunities and found that theatre design combined the adrenalin of acting, the love I had for art and the excitement of text analysis, as well as a whole new world of scenic construction, painting, working with people and creating the world on stage.

Where did you train and what was good about the course?

I trained at Central School of Speech and Drama, where I studied theatre practice, specialising in design for stage. The course not only taught me the fundamental skills of a set and costume designer, but also how to work with people within a team, how to communicate my ideas and how to sell myself as a designer when graduating.

How did you get your first design experience?

Through sheer determination. I decided to write to as many companies and theatres as possible, asking for work experience or a chance to shadow a designer. My local theatre at the time [the Wycombe Swan] wrote back and I assisted a designer there alongside my studies. I then continued to work hard at Central to network with professional practitioners on productions, and was offered my first paid design work from a director I had worked with there.

How did you get your first job?

While at Central, I always tried to make sure I made as many contacts as possible, most of my first jobs were through recommendation. I found myself designing a musical at the Watford Palace Theatre, through a recommendation to the director from Central. I also started freelancing as a design assistant at the National in their digital drawing and design office, again starting through recommendation and from exhibiting my work. I then applied for my current job, and had gained enough experience to be the strongest candidate.

What are you working on?

At the moment, I am a design studio assistant for London 2012 Olympic Ceremonies, and I am also designing small corporate events for the National Theatre. But once July hits, I’ll be on the Olympic Ceremonies alone.

What do you think is the most important attribute for a theatre designer?

Imagination, determination, good teamwork skills, being able to think on your feet, confidence, being able to explain what’s going on in your head. I think there are so many attributes that make up a good designer.

What designers do you admire or which have influenced your work?

The designer/director Julie Taymor was one of the main reasons I wanted to become a designer. Her designs are incredible, but when you look at them closely the idea is so simple but also so effective. I admire many designers for different things - Rae Smith for her imagination, Tom Piper for his flexibility and detail, Pamela Howard for using the world around us as her inspiration, Bunny Christie for such extravagant and detailed designs and Christopher Oram for creating such unique atmospheres. All have taught me to think outside the box.

What would you like to be doing in ten years’ time?

I would love to be designing for some of the incredible companies such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera, and also for the West End.

Ted Loveday writes:

When the set design competition was announced in September, The Stage noted that I first became involved in the construction of scenery for professional theatre almost from the day that I was born back in 1944. Hence, I have a bias in favour of scenery and much sympathy for those who have to run, trip, fly, set up and strike it. Back in the 1960s, in order to gain practical experience, I worked full-time as a stagehand in London’s Old Vic Theatre on three major productions. They were Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Ibsen’s Peer Gynt and Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist. These shows were being set up and struck on a two-day rota basis intermingled with set-ups and strikes for other productions. I spent many hours over many weeks running and bracing flats, flicking and lashing sash lines, pulling ropes and generally sweating on a stage. In my opinion, the design was unsympathetic so far as the stage crew was concerned. When running single and folding flats, the angle of the temporary rake caused one’s feet and ankles unnecessary suffering. Ever since, I have been of the opinion that those who design scenery should have a good appreciation (gained, if possible, from practical experience) of what it’s like to construct the scenery that they design; to operate that scenery on stage and to put it into and out of theatres, rehearsal rooms and other performance areas. Rebecca Brower’s entry in the set design competition is a worthy winner. Her entry satisfied the criteria of being an ingenious stage set, of including mechanical concepts, and of having an appreciation of onstage techniques for the handling and moving of that which she had designed. She also showed that every department that her design would involve had been fully and sympathetically considered - including the audience. The written description that accompanied her drawings and plans illustrated that she had committed herself to analysing every facet of the design challenge that had been presented to her. I was impressed, and I wish her well.

When the set design competition was announced in September, The Stage noted that I first became involved in the construction of scenery for professional theatre almost from the day that I was born back in 1944. Hence, I have a bias in favour of scenery and much sympathy for those who have to run, trip, fly, set up and strike it. Back in the 1960s, in order to gain practical experience, I worked full-time as a stagehand in London’s Old Vic Theatre on three major productions. They were Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Ibsen’s Peer Gynt and Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist. These shows were being set up and struck on a two-day rota basis intermingled with set-ups and strikes for other productions. I spent many hours over many weeks running and bracing flats, flicking and lashing sash lines, pulling ropes and generally sweating on a stage. In my opinion, the design was unsympathetic so far as the stage crew was concerned. When running single and folding flats, the angle of the temporary rake caused one’s feet and ankles unnecessary suffering. Ever since, I have been of the opinion that those who design scenery should have a good appreciation (gained, if possible, from practical experience) of what it’s like to construct the scenery that they design; to operate that scenery on stage and to put it into and out of theatres, rehearsal rooms and other performance areas. Rebecca Brower’s entry in the set design competition is a worthy winner. Her entry satisfied the criteria of being an ingenious stage set, of including mechanical concepts, and of having an appreciation of onstage techniques for the handling and moving of that which she had designed. She also showed that every department that her design would involve had been fully and sympathetically considered - including the audience. The written description that accompanied her drawings and plans illustrated that she had committed herself to analysing every facet of the design challenge that had been presented to her. I was impressed, and I wish her well.