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Abigal Manard (They/Them)
Performance Design MA
Abigail is a passionate theatrical designer and collaborator who specialises in musical theatre. They previously studied at Baldwin Wallace University where they received BA’s in Theatre: Technical Design, Theatre: Acting & Directing, and minored in Studio Art and History. Abigail has previously worked as an assistant designer for Jeff Herrmann, was the set designer for Blackfriars Theatre Summer Productions, and as well as a creator and production designer for Maestra: The Musical.
BOVTS credits:
Costume Designer:Â A Midsummer Nights Dream (Malcolm X Community Centre)
Set and Costume Designer:Â Dorian (The Wardrobe Theatre)
Dorian
Working closely with Director Phoebe Kemp, I designed both the set and costumes for this chaotic and queer show that follows the story of The Picture of Dorian Gray intertwined with Oscar Wilde’s life and trial. We were keen to combine modern day queer life with the Victorian style while still creating a flexible set that would be able to make up the many locations the show requires. This show was truly a passion project that we all are so incredibly proud of.
Photography credit: Craig Fuller
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Collaborating with Director Derek Bond, I designed the set and costumes of a theoretical production of Sweeney Todd, set at Chichester Festival Theatre. This challenging show and space demanded a flexible and almost operatic style set to truly bring this space to life. Focusing on class structure in industrial Victorian London and the desire to include modern day story telling, we fused together the past and the present to create a world where overworked Abattoir staff finally rise up and tell this dark and bloody story as a sign of protest.
Photography credit: Abigail Manard
A Midsummer Nights Dream
Alongside Director Paul Chesterton and set designer Vyshnavi Krishnan, I designed the costumes for this fantastical Shakespearean comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Setting it in the Edwardian period, we were drawn to the darker elements of the show such as the blatant misogyny and multiple drugging’s that occur throughout. This led me to create a darker colour palette not only in our strictly Edwardian human world but also in the fairy world, keen to create fairies that were magical but also earthy and grotesque, truly creatures of another world. Our darker production however did not stop the comedy of the show shining through and we truly enjoyed finding that balance between sinister and hilarity.
Photography credit: Ed Felton
