Es Devlin: Stage Design

The way Es Devlin approaches stage design is genius. Taking small moments of fun and interest and turning them into giant, kinetic, engaging stages is a reflection of her talent. I was not too familiar with stage design besides what I helped with in high school productions. Devlin pushes the bounds of what stages should be. The environment because an integral part of the performance. Even if it’s only a one-room play she devises systems like a rain box or projection to inform the view of a change in the environment. She pushes me to think about the experience of the play or concert and not just the setting. By making the home of Hamlet covered in black soil, it transforms the feeling of a well-known play into something that much more dramatic and meaningful because now the setting of the play is reflective of the tone the director is going for. 

 I think Devlin has a natural sense of environmental design because she doesn’t create scenes that have only one focal point. Her designs are successful because they are dynamic and have a lot going on. She spoke about the democracy of the theater and that’s reflected in her work. No matter where you look something different and interesting is happening. You won’t get the same play twice because of this approach. I think that’s a really important aspect of environmental and experience design. Each person’s experience is totally unique and can’t be recreated because it’s the result of the perfect culmination of light, mood, and environment. 

I think her design process challenges me to make physical models that can be interacted with. Because you get to physically understand scale and space through their use. Making a lot of drawings is helpful to get ideas, but once you see that model you get to really start to understand how that environment could be brought to life. I appreciate that about her design process, which is fast and experimental with a constant flow of ideas until one idea clicks and can be refined into a real plan. 

I’ve never thought about stage design as a part of experience design but I’m deeply inspired by her work and the way she thinks about building experiences for others. I was really inspired by her use of light and projection which can be done at any scale and is instantly engaging and dynamic while allowing you to explore even more images and space by projecting them onto surfaces.