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 Lighting Design 'The Tempest'
Prospero contemplates. 1:50 Scale Model
Set Design 'The Tempest'
Front (audience) view of the destroyed auditorium set.
Set Design 'The Tempest'
Top view of the destroyed auditorium set.
Lighting Design 'The Tempest'
Prospero observes blooming romance. Act 3 Scene 1 - 1:50 Scale Model.
Lighting Design 'The Tempest'
Spirits in isolation. Act 3 Scene 3 - 1:50 Scale Model.
Lighting and Set Design 'The Tempest'
A metaphorical and literal curtain closes on Prospero's performance. Epilogue - 1:50 Scale Model.
Sound Design 'The Tempest'
Act 1 Scene 1 - Sound design accompanied by a flip-book style depiction of The Storm
Development 'The Tempest'
Many iterations of the set design were explored prior to settling on the dilapidated Sumner Theatre auditorium.
Image: Deryk McAlpin
Development 'The Tempest'
Considerations were made in terms of feasibility, acting space, aesthetics, and the "world of the performance". Ultimately, this developmental piece gave way to the final design.
Jess Elfick is a Melbourne-based designer and all-round theatre hand, with studies not only in Performance Design at the University of Melbourne but also in Mechanical Systems. Attempting to seamlessly merge the scientific with the arts, Jess continues to find interest in creative and technical aspects of theatre and event design.
Working as a sound swing on 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' in Melbourne throughout 2022/23, as well as designing and directing two UniMelb student shows, has given Jess a diverse insight into the theatrical realm. Her time at the Prague Quadrennial in 2023 also deeply impacted her practice. She finds herself ready to take on new and exciting design challenges in the future, informed by a global outlook.
'The Tempest'
The Tempest is a critical piece of metadrama, holding a mirror to the audience and inviting them to see a world of boastful pride and colonisation inside the world of the theatre as a path to it out the stage doors.
The destroyed on-stage replication of the Sumner Theatre auditorium is water-logged, crumbling around the enslaved "natives" and occupying "nobles" alike due to Prospero's endless ego.
Initial "tempestuous" weather opens opportunities for destruction in a physical sense, supported metaphorically by Prospero's emotional flippancy, and Ariel's crushing need to please this oppressor. The combination of disintegrating on-stage auditorium, oppressive 'glowing' lighting, and 1920s gramophone with modern effects adds to the commentary on the global pitfalls of the endlessly power hungry, the colonising, and the subsequent technological replacements of traditional theatre.
Set and Lighting Design 'The Tempest'
Prospero contemplates. 1:50 Scale Model