This project was a speculative design project for a theatrical adaptation of the novel 'The Red Tree', written and illustrated by Shaun Tan, which will eventually be realised by Red Earth Theatre. Red Earth creates theatre productions aimed at young audiences, which mainly tour schools around the UK. Their productions are also accessible for deaf and hard of hearing people through the combined use of BSL, ESL and captioning.

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The aim of the project was to look at designing for a small-scale touring production and how theatre can be designed to be accessible for the deaf community.

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The plot for the show centred around a young artist who struggles to create new artwork and goes on a journey to find hope and rediscover herself. I had to design a set which was able to be put up and taken down within 30 minutes but also looked visually appealing and could transport the children to the locations shown in the story. There are three performers to design costumes for, The Artist (the actor), The Musician (who plays a range of instruments during the show) and The Puppeteer, as well as a number of puppet characters, controlled by The Puppeteer.