Production image selected for inclusion in The Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology Future Now and digital exhibition.

Ethically sourcing camping equipment was high on my list for the design for STUCK by HOAX. The design, which was conceived early in the process, tells the story of ecological collapse through a subterranean wasteland landscaped from festival waste freeing the performers up to tell other climate change narratives.The show was part art-installation, part absurdist theatre, and used clowning, rhetoric and soft sculpture to examine our cultural paralysis toward our changing planet.

The all-female cast Ayesha Tansey and Flavia Bertram of HOAX, joined by Sabrina Manac’h, In the guise of the three fates, tackled themes of fertility, access to food, ingesting plastic and displaced memory in comic / tragic attempts at survival which included making up stories to effect the weather. The design presented a symbiotic relationship between body and environment. The costumes, envisaged as a series of dramaturgical revelations, morphed from unique survival clothing into ambiguous unsettling early life forms that are, in the final instance, consumed by the set.

The design contributed to the conceptual development, show’s profile and eco-credentials. With the rise of non-violent eco-activism such as Extinction Rebellion and ‘birth strike’ STUCK continues to gain relevance as a courageous and prescient piece of work.

I have shared my eco-scenography adventures speaking at A Greener Festival, Serious Circus Symposium, PQ19 (The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space) where I hosted, a round table discussion Role of Theatre Designer for our Times with SBTD. I was very moved by the interest from younger people in sustainable design, and this has prompted me to connect with colleges.