Es Devlin: 'Get set, go!'

[dcdeb]

(Just found this generally interesting, given her work with Mika...)

 

From Take That to Kanye West, when pop’s biggest stars want shows with the wow factor, they come to pioneering British theatre designer Es Devlin.

 

By Daisy Bowie-Sell

Published: 11:47AM BST 01 Sep 2010

 

There aren’t many British theatre designers who can say that their sets have been seen by millions of people worldwide, screamed at, captured on film and endlessly commented on in forums on YouTube. But Es Devlin certainly can, as her luminous, powerful and ambitious designs tour the world with the biggest names in music – the likes of Mika, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Take That and the Pet Shop Boys.

 

More than a million people in Britain – mostly whooping women – saw Take That’s Circus tour in 2009, the brainchild of the 39-year-old Kent-born Devlin, who had a life-size animatronic elephant centre stage as the pop boys dressed up as clowns, played on bicycles, tricycles and unicycles in a burst of colour and spectacle.

 

When I visit Devlin there is a small-scale version of this elephant on one of the shelves of her south London studio. She recently got permission to extend the space so that she, her husband and her two children can live and work side by side. It is packed with models, from the bright, sinister clown face that spewed out acrobats, balloons and a Chinese dragon in Mika’s 2008 Parc des Princes gig, to a tiny version of the gothic set for next year’s production of Batman at the O2, in which the head of the Joker looms over the tiny cardboard audience.

 

Although she has been working mainly on pop and opera over the past seven years, Devlin says the inspiration process for any production is the same: “Initially I use pure musical immersion, which aims to bypass the more literal forms of interpretation and appeal more immediately to instinct.” Later, she responds in a more language-based way, to the lyrics, libretto or script.

 

Once this initial process is over, she then shows the models of her ideas to the creative team, which they generally love. Or not, as the case may be. One of the models she picks up is of a temple that has recently been scrapped from Shakira’s world tour: “Felix Barrett and I are working together. We thought the three levels of the temple could rise slowly through the performance.” In Barrett, artistic director of the immersive, site-specific theatre company Punchdrunk, she has found a like-minded collaborator. Devlin admits though that when faced with a pop star, artistic sacrifices often have to be made: “Together we would really like to instil some of what we do in theatre, but we are struggling with the infrastructure. We’re used to what we can deliver in rehearsal, but most pop stars don’t rehearse.”

 

When Devlin began designing sets at the Bush theatre in London in the mid-Nineties, she found the theatrical world restrictive. “You had a lot of really well crafted but very naturalistic set design, and I’d be thinking: why are we pretending we are in a real room? Why not make it something beautiful, which could actually express some of the subtext of the piece?”

 

Devlin hasn’t worked in theatre for five years, but next week she is revisiting old haunts and designing a new play, Pieces of Vincent, for the fringe Arcola theatre in London. Coming back into a small-scale theatre might prove challenging, as the theatre space at the Arcola is compact, with large columns that must be manoeuvred around (“just don’t sit behind one of them” she laughs). But her reputation has meant that much of the technical support – the playback systems, LED screens and projectors – has been gifted to her.

 

Where theatre can be restrictive, she says the pop tours have enabled her to express some of her vision. One of her more fruitful collaborations has been with hiphop star Kanye West, whom she first met when he rang just 10 days before his Touching the Sky tour in 2005, saying he had sacked his designer and needed a new design – fast. He had seen her work with punk band Wire in 2003, when she had made the band members stand in separate illuminated boxes in the walls and connected them to ECG machines and MRI scanners.

 

West’s Glow in the Dark Tour was their second collaboration, which came after he saw Devlin’s design for Salome at the Royal Opera House in 2008. The rapper had wanted to be the only thing on stage, so Devlin created barren landscapes projected onto screens around him – a lone musician in an alien world.

 

The two artists have similar visionary tastes, which is not always the case with certain, unnameable pop stars: “Sometimes it’s nonsense. It’s Alice in Wonderland – do this, do that, I want a pink one, I want a red one. Can I have one that’s actually a jelly fish,” Devlin says.

 

But as far as the future of British theatre design goes, Devlin is very excited, having recently seen Earthquakes in London at the National and Sucker Punch at the Royal Court, both shows that push the limits of what can be done with a set and an audience. “The way you are placed in the space already adds to your interpretation of the work,” she says. “I think theatre design is blossoming. In the mid-Nineties I really felt as if I was giving too much, but now there is more of an appetite for an ambitious designer,” she says.

 

* Pieces of Vincent by David Watson is at the Arcola Theatre, E8, Sept 2-25. Tickets: http://www.arcolatheatre.com; 020 7503 1646

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-features/7968375/EsDevlin-Get-set-go.html

[robertina]

oh thanks! i loved it

[Soaring Simpson]

that was great

 

And to think we all thought Mika's stuff was done at the last minute

[silver]

Sorry - I could have posted that days ago

 

Nice to see who Mika is ranked alongside of

[RAK1]

It's good to read that theatre design is opening up to more elaborate sets.

Although purists may not like the sets getting more attention than the performance. If the balance is right, and I think Es is the perfect person to do that, I think it would enhance the enjoyment of a play.

If she does do another theatre based show, I'd love to go and see it.

[dcdeb]

It's good to read that theatre design is opening up to more elaborate sets.

Although purists may not like the sets getting more attention than the performance. If the balance is right, and I think Es is the perfect person to do that, I think it would enhance the enjoyment of a play.

If she does do another theatre based show, I'd love to go and see it.

 

Yeah, I'm a little sad that I just missed this one by a few days. If I get

back over there during its run, I'll try to see it -- sounds like something I'd

enjoy.

[RAK1]

Yeah, I'm a little sad that I just missed this one by a few days. If I get

back over there during its run, I'll try to see it -- sounds like something I'd

enjoy.

 

Hmm, looks interesting.

I like the concept of it, might get off my backside and check it out next week.

[Droopsy]

A quite long interview here for those who are interested in her or her work. I figured I might as well post it here

[A. Clay]

theartsdesk Q&A:

Stage Designer Es Devlin

After a hiatus of five years,

the stage designer has a new play at the Arcola

by Hilary WhitneySaturday,

04 September 2010

http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/theartsdesk-qa-stage-designer-es-devlin

Edited October 3, 2012 by A. Clay

[willywonka]

She's so gorgeous and avery talented artist! She's all i've ever wanted to be and does all i ever wanted to do but couldn't...

[Mikasister]

Hope they work together again

 

[mamiam]

Hope they work together again

 

 

Me too! This pic is so lovely, I do hope they're planning something really smart now - I love the doc. about PDP gig - Es talked so nice about our MIKA - thanks a lot for sharing this pic Alba!

 

Love,love

me

[Mikasister]

Me too! This pic is so lovely, I do hope they're planning something really smart now - I love the doc. about PDP gig - Es talked so nice about our MIKA - thanks a lot for sharing this pic Alba!

 

Love,love

me

 

You're welcome!

 

[Léna Machu]

That would be wonderful that they work together for Mika's theatre project!!!

[Mikasister]

That would be wonderful that they work together for Mika's theatre project!!!

 

+1:wub2: