Designing for my alma mater, The Lir, is always a treat. This time in particular what I thought from reading the script would be initially a very straightforward box set, became one of my favourite spaces I have had the opportunity to see through to the performances. The director, Hilary Wood, wanted to bring the audience into Arcadia and urged me to look at in the round and traverse layouts, the large ellipse floor landing somewhere in-between. The set became the bare minimum of necessary entrances and exits in an idealized Palladian style which I drew from my architectural training to express technical drawings rather than existing doors. The marbled floor, part mathematical equation part painted masterpiece, linked these almost sculptural elements with the functional and period appropriate furniture. The canvases that hung about the space inspired by the etchings of Claude Lorrain evoked an in progress or imagined Arcadia more reminiscent of Mr Noake’s drawings than the garden existing beyond the realms of the playspace. In this production in particular I would like to commend the incredible work of both the construction and scenic departments who produced such a high quality finish it was beyond my expectations.

Director: Hilary Wood
Lighting Design: Kevin Smith
Costume Design: Louise Dunne
Sound Designer: Jack Cawley
Set Design Assistant: Maria Del Mar Parés Baraldés

Cast
Penny Morris
Alexandra Bierer
Allie O’Neill
Alison Kinlan
Síofra Ní Éilí Duggan
Gabriel Draper
Sean Landau
Shane Cormick
Conor O Hara
Daniel Tracey
Nathan Everett Patterson
Eimhin Fitzgerald Doherty

Photography by Carol Cummins with additional photos by myself