We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campuses are situated, the people of the Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung, who have created art, made music and told their stories here for thousands of generations.
Made possible by a VCA Foundation Engagement Grant
Site Credits: Bien Studio, Allan Pooley, John Ford, Lisa Mibus.
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
The University of Melbourne (Australian University)
PRV12150 / CRICOS 00116K
Set and Costume Design, Associate Lighting Design ‘Never’ of ‘Sometimes, Always, Rarely, Never’
Performed and devised by Daphne Gerolymou-Papadopoulos, Eleanor Golding, Lauren Swain, Charlie Veitch and Kate Weston. Collaborating with theatre makers and production to devise costuming and environment, illuminating the world of the portal. The stage space was shared across the four works, representing a collaboration between myself and my fellow designers.
Photo: Drew Echberg
Set and Costume Design, Associate Lighting Design ‘Never’ of ‘Sometimes, Always, Rarely, Never’
Performed and devised by Daphne Gerolymou-Papadopoulos, Eleanor Golding, Lauren Swain, Charlie Veitch and Kate Weston. Collaborating with the theatre makers on the layered costumes of the Seers with the unique EL wire nervous systems overlaid by an ephemeral organza jumpsuit, highlighting both the everyday and cosmic nature of these characters.
Photo: Drew Echberg
Set and Costume Design, Associate Lighting Design ‘Never’ of ‘Sometimes, Always, Rarely, Never’
Performed and devised by Daphne Gerolymou-Papadopoulos, Eleanor Golding, Lauren Swain, Charlie Veitch and Kate Weston. The closing portal with the stretching of the net membrane by the theatre makers across the flown structure of the portal
Photo: Drew Echberg
Set Design ‘Heathers: The Musical’
Act 1 Scene 1 Directed by Alister Smith. Sculpting a school yard that highlights the contrasts between the bold primary palette and candy-coated neon against the imposing scaffolding structure.
Photo: Ben Fon
Set Design ‘Heathers: The Musical’
Act 2 Scene 1 Directed by Alister Smith. Utilising various levels in the skeletal school walls to explore the multiple spaces and shifting power dynamics onstage that underlie this narrative.
Photo: Ben Fon
Set Design ‘Heathers: The Musical’
Act 2 Scene 6 Directed by Alister Smith. Moving set pieces were used to create a dynamic landscape onstage to flow between these swiftly changing environments.
Photo: Ben Fon
Set Design ‘Heathers: The Musical’
Act 2 Scene 7 Directed by Alister Smith. The penultimate scene unfolds in the stark environment of the boiler room below the school’s gymnasium foreshadowed throughout by the abstracted gymnasium floor with the symbolic roof of harsh school lights and encircling scaffolding.
Videography: Latitude Video Production
Lighting Design ‘BORNEO plus 3
’Borneo' Directed by Tony Nikolakopoulos. Illuminating the shifts in this conversation unfolding between two strangers on board a plane, highlighting an intimate moment in a public space.
Photo: Drew Echberg
Lighting Design ‘BORNEO plus 3’
Petroleum' Directed by Tony Nikolakopoulos. In this duologue, the lighting design worked to highlight the building conflict and animosity between the characters, Steve and Gordon.
Photo: Drew Echberg
Lighting Design ‘BORNEO plus 3
'Night' Directed by Tony Nikolakopoulos. Invoking this intimate conversation taking place within the saturated environment of a bar.
Photo: Drew Echberg
Chiara is a multidisciplinary designer working across spatial, lighting and costume design, based in Naarm/Melbourne. She is passionate about creating innovative scenography for live performance through collaborative practice, with a key focus on sustainability and intersectionality.
Chiara holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production) from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and is a proud recipient of the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Award.
Chiara most recently worked as Set Designer for 'Heathers the Musical' (dir. Alister Smith). Her other VCA credits include Set and Costume Designer for devised theatre production 'Sometimes, Always, Rarely, Never' (2022), and Lighting Designer for 'Borneo plus 3' (dir. Tony Nikolakopoulos).
She worked as a Production Assistant on the Australian exhibits at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2023. Chiara has undertaken internships with Set and Costume Designer Matilda Woodroofe for 'This is Living' (Malthouse Theatre), and with Lighting and Spatial Designer Jenny Hector.
Set and Costume Design, Associate Lighting Design ‘Never’ of ‘Sometimes, Always, Rarely, Never’
Performed and devised by Daphne Gerolymou-Papadopoulos, Eleanor Golding, Lauren Swain, Charlie Veitch and Kate Weston. Collaborating with theatre makers and production to devise costuming and environment, illuminating the world of the portal. The stage space was shared across the four works, representing a collaboration between myself and my fellow designers.
Photo: Drew Echberg