DEBUT
FESTIVAL
​2020

Corbett Theatre |  Essex |  2020

Debut Festival is an annual festival run by the East 15 Drama school, in which the third year Acting & Contemporary Theatre students perform, write and direct their own pieces.

Role: Designer ​

I was in charge of designing the sets and costumes for all 6 of the shows performed. During the festival each show was to be performed on the same day in succession. This meant each show needed to be capable of technically transitioning between one another, while still maintaining their individual identity.  

Director: Varied
Writer: Varied
Designer: Natalia Alvarez

SIX SHOWS
​
    ONE WEEK

BLUE
BENEATH 
​MY SKIN

Written by Macadie Amoroso
Directed by Janet Etuk

One woman show designed to be simple and practical. The character, who has a passion for fashion design, uses the scraps of fabric in her closet as her way of telling her story.

EMBALMING
​ARIANA GRANDE

Written & Directed by Jenny Witzel and James Malone

Contemporary piece using a combination of live feed and prerecorded film during the performance. The design played  with a lot of different viewpoints, whether it was through the camera, behind fabric, or through, were able to look into the characters eyes in various ways, with various shades of pink.  

ENTER
MR CITRUS MAN

Written & Directed by Mia Juhl

The two main characters in this piece live their entire life in the safety of their bathroom, until someone comes in to change that for them. The challenge of this piece was creating a compact bathroom space that still allowed for the actors movement.

HUMMINGBIRD

Written by Isaac Murphy
Directed by Neil Staveley

This piece required a lot of physicality and require the set to be diverse in its shape yet still specific in its location. We built three moveable flats that acted as the walls that the actors could play around move as if the wall was caving in and distorting around them. That as well as a bleeding cupboard and walkway fridge reflected the gnarled reality that existed in the main characters head.

THE
DRIPPING
MIRROR

Written by Molly Rolfe
Directed by Hebe Bartlett

Set in a 1940s burlesque cabaret, this musical required a lot of organized costume planning. I also had to make sure that there was enough space onstage for the dance numbers, while still having some set pieces to indicate location changes. All together the show was fun, flirty, and filled with a lot of fun scenarios 

THE
​LOCAL

Written by Lucy Yates
Directed by Tyler Holland

The most straightforward out of all designs, this piece was set in a pub in the English countryside. The pub is meant to look and feel like the local pubs you would find in your hometown. I wanted it to feel like a sleepy pub that hardly sees change, juxtaposing the challenges of the patrons wanting to integrate into the small town, with those just wanting to get out.