Design Exchange

The Soulpepper Academy Design students have been hard at work at the Young Centre but not only on Soulpepper shows. This fall, the George Brown Theatre School produced Mary Stuart by Friedrich Schiller and recruited Anahita Dehbonehie to design the costumes and Shannon Lea Doyle to design the set. We sat down with the designers to talk about their experience.

For Shannon, working with the George Brown production team was different from shows she’d worked on in the past. “I’m used to working on indie projects where I was the designer/production manager/builder/everything. Projects where, if I didn’t know how to make it, it simply wouldn’t get made.” This made for an exciting design opportunity, wherein she was able to hand drafts off to a team of professional carpenters and builders. “It was really cool to have the support system of Soulpepper while working on a show outside of the company.” This support system included the designers’ mentor Lorenzo Savoini, who continued to be a resource and sounding board throughout the process. “It’s wonderful to have an experienced and trusted mentor who cares about you as a person,” says Shannon.

Anahita’s time working in the costume department proved equally fruitful. She commented that the range of resources were wonderful but it was the personnel that sticks out for her, especially the head of the costume department Ina Kerklan. “It was amazing to have a half hour conversation with someone about a colour and what it does and what it means.” Like all designers, their biggest challenge was the management and allocation of resources. “When you only have a finite amount of time and resources, you begin to think about specific elements of the show and make decisions,” says Anahita. “And you have to cut some things and keep others, and this quickly helps you realize the most important piece of the puzzle.” A prime example of this was the dress for Elizabeth, one of the lead roles in the play. Anahita’s original design was very ornate, but would have used up the lion’s share of time and money. “I worked with Ina to simplify the dress, deciding which parts were essential to get the same idea across, within budget and on time.” This is the type of hands-on experience that the Designers will take with them as they build a professional career post-graduation. Both of the designers said they would be pleased to work on another show with George Brown and with their director, Jeanette Lambermont Morey. “She was really open and receptive to our ideas and our input. It made the process very easy.”

You can see Anahita’s design work next in Marat/Sade (September), and Shannon’s in The Dybbuk (May).