MA Performance Design
Cat is a Performance Designer based in Bristol and London. Cat has an extensive specialist skill set, having previously worked as a Graphic Designer and Marketing Consultant within the arts before specialising in Performance Design at BOVTS. Cat has a particular interest in performance where theatre and music collide, selecting opera design as her specialism this year.
During her time at BOVTS, Cat was awarded the John Elvery Prize which recognises excellence in stage design.
Credits for BOVTS include:Â
Set design: The Three Seagulls (Bristol Old Vic)
Set and costume design: Kyoto (The Wardrobe Theatre), Banksy: A Portrait of Bristol (BOVTS Online) and Loveplay (Weston Studio, BOV – cancelled due to lockdown).
Created in collaboration with director Adele Thomas, I reimagined Poulenc’s surreal comic opera through the lens of 1940’s Paris, taking inspiration from the magical sequences of Busby Berkeley’s technicolour musicals. Responding to the meta-theatricality of the opera, I used the framing device of a Hollywood soundstage and the behind-the-scenes universe of blue chroma screen technology to explore the concept of performance.
Produced in collaboration with director Imy Wyatt-Corner, Hobson’s Choice is set in a saree shop in 1980’s industrial Manchester. The design responds to themes of family, journeys and the complex intertwining history of the cotton industry and rag trade in England and India. The shipping container explores ideas of globalisation, with the materials of Hobson’s shop being pulled out of the container as Act 1 begins.
Working with director Sally Cookson and costume designer Maria Terry, we were inspired by the anarchic nature of the 1896 premiere of The Seagull. I used the framework of an abandoned theatre under construction, exposing the natural environment of the theatre and its behind-the-scenes processes, to explore the play’s questions about the importance of theatre and creating new forms.