Blood bank
Ensemble Theatre · october 2015
Winner Australian Interior Design Awards, Installation Category 2016
Tobhiyah was presented with the challenge to design for two productions in repertory in the Ensemble Theatre 2015 season. After consulting with both directors, Mark Kilmurry and Anthony Skuse to identify the needs and wants for each show Tobhiyah decided to invest the full budget into one multi-purpose playing space. This liberation from specificity of time and place brought about an evocative, abstract stage beautifully lit by Nicholas Higgins.
Tobhiyah worked closely with director Anthony Skuse and AV designer Tim Hope on the video content which references Australian artists Bill Henson and Janet Laurence to create evocative imagery of three young brothers superimposed by textures of the bush.
“Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s simple, clean-lined set is an ideal and unobtrusive backdrop, but also provides a perfect canvas for Tim Hope’s projections. These accompany flashes of childhood memories and add a texture and tangibility to this sub-plot that cleverly roots it to the on-stage action.”
— Maxim Boon, Limelight
“Tim Hope’s video projections sensitively, and yet boldly, help to build narrative and context. It is a brilliant use of the theatrical space; expansive, immersive and mysterious while functioning as a kind of memory flashback for the brothers…..the austerity and economy of the set perfectly balances the script and Hope’s video.”
— Gina Fairley, ArtsHub
“Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s austere set and Nicholas Higgins’ subtle lighting is backed by haunting music composed by the playwright – and a high, wide screen on which videos (designer Tim Hope) of a much younger Justin and Michael depict the past that has shaped their present…..this is another stunning production for the Ensemble.”
— Carol Wimmer, Stage Whispers
Credits & Acknowledgements
Set & Costume Design Tobhiyah Stone Feller
Team Daniel Stukel Beasly, Jeff Tighe
Director: Anthony Skuse
Playwright: Christopher Harley
Lighting Design: Nicholas Higgins
AV Design: Tim Hope
Costume Supervisor: Alana Canceri
Production Management: Tom Blunt
Production Co-ordination: Simon Greer
Set Construction: Simon Boyd, Belvoir Set Workshop
Cast: Tom Stokes, Gabrielle Scawthorn, Meredith Penman
Photographer: Clare Hawley