Ailsa Paterson is an award-winning costume and set designer for live performance and film. She lives and works on the lands of the Kaurna people (in Australia) and pays respect to elders past, present and emerging.
Paterson has worked extensively as a designer for theatre, opera, dance, cabaret and events. Her work has toured around Australia and to the UK, the US, New Zealand and Asia.
Paterson holds a Bachelor of Dramatic Art, Design from Australia’s respected institution, the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and a Diploma in Advanced AutoCAD from TAFE SA. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Flinders University, South Australia. Paterson was Resident Designer for the State Theatre Company of SA in 2019 and was a 2011 recipient of the Mike Walsh Fellowship.
While her education and career has been weighted towards Australia, it is a job that is universal.
How do you describe what you do to friends or family?
I tell family and friends that a lot of my design process involves cutting cardboard up into smaller bits and gluing it back together.
Design for theatre is a strange job that is initially extremely introverted and focused, when you are generating concepts and atmospheres to explore with the director, but then becomes very technical as you build 3D models and draw building plans for the workshop. It becomes hugely collaborative as you work with scenic artists, builders, prop makers, stage managers, marketing people, ticketing people and the other artists involved in the show.
I spend a lot of time staring into a black box, and then sitting in a black theatre!
How did you get started in your career?
When I first graduated, I did a lot of designs for the independent theatre sector to hone my skills and build relationships. At the same time, I was working as an assistant in TV and dressing actors for the big musicals at night. All these experiences were fantastic preparation for a career in design for live performance.
How did you become a set designer?
I studied the Bachelor of Dramatic Art in Design at NIDA. This course was for both set and costume design. It was extremely challenging and intense, under the guidance of the legendary Peter Cooke. I think that half of the battle was just to survive to the end of the course, as an excellent foreshadowing of how tough the industry is.
Read: The essential skills of a great designer
The course included training in [the software program] AutoCAD, life drawing, the history of architecture, the history of theatre and model making. In the first two years of the degree you work as a crew member on the shows designed by the final year students, so your experience of that world begins immediately.
What’s an average day or week like for you?
My average day is usually quite chaotic as I juggle my job with raising my four-year-old daughter and one-year-old son!
If the design process is in its early stages I am working from home, sourcing visual references, exploring with scale and proportion in the model box, drawing concept sketches and meeting with the director and other creatives. If the show is in rehearsal, I move between the rehearsal room and the workshops where the set is being built. I source sample materials and constantly update plans as things evolve in the rehearsal room and with the build.
When we are in the technical week for the show, I live in the theatre 24/7 as the show is installed and the visual environment is combined with the lighting, sound and performance elements.
What’s the most common misconception about being a set designer?
Some audience members may not realise the scope of the set design role. The design process often begins six months or more before a production goes into rehearsal. The set designer is responsible for drawing up the building plans for the set and overseeing the construction of every scenic element. It’s not a matter of having an idea and then handing it over. You need to collaborate with a raft of other creatives – builders, scenic artists, prop makers, marketing people, ticketing people – to realise the vision. The whole process begins with the director/designer collaboration.
Tell us about design challenges and how you resolved them?
The challenge of presenting these two very different worlds in rep is obviously the question of how they can be overlaid, and how the necessary changes can be made in 15 minutes by two crew members.
[Paterson’s design skills are currently displayed in Ensemble Theatre‘s productions A Christmas Carol and Boxing Day BBQ, with the change-over between shows especially tight.]
I started to play with the possibility that the main stage structure and floor treatment could be in place for both pieces. When I found a look for the back deck that could double as stage floorboards, it unlocked the solution. The fencing panels for BBQ remain in place behind the mirrored wall and curtain for Christmas Carol. Then it is about changing over the many props and adding some grass and plants for BBQ.
If you were interviewing someone to take over your job, what skills and qualities would you look for?
I would look for someone who is very organised and has excellent communication skills in addition to being creative and passionate about live performance. Set design requires a balance of technical and creative skills, but if you can’t collaborate with others then you won’t be able to realise your vision. To survive in this job, you need to take on multiple projects at once, so you need an ability to switch your brain between shows and design processes.
What’s the best thing happening in the stage design sector at the moment?
The stage design sector currently exhibits a return to uber-naturalistic detail, alongside a clever integration of projection and live filming into the presentation of visual worlds. This exciting juxtaposition of old and new theatre techniques is constantly evolving and producing challenging, thought-provoking designs.
