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SARAH BACON It should never take over. If It’s th
e lot of the freelancer – bouncing along the precarious safety net from project to project. Sarah Bacon pauses to reflect on a year which has given her a fleeting sense of security whilst ramping up her stature in the set design game in Dublin. From her work in The Gate’s Love and Courage season with The Children and Beginning through City Song in The Abbey, Hecuba in the Project, Haircut! in The Ark and now Drama at Inish in the Abbey, Bacon feels, “It’s the first time in my adult life where I feel I am earning a salary but working flat out.” The set and costume designer was originally on a path to being an architecture graduate until “the idea of planning permissions, extensions and straight lines” sent her scurrying towards the world of sculpture in Brighton. “When I came back to Dublin (after Brighton), I got a studio here. I didn’t know the scene, found it isolating and couldn’t make any money. I did a FAS course in the SFX with Michael Scott and started making props. That was brilliant. It was really hands-on.” Bacon’s desire to familiarise herself with the whole process led her into Assistant Stage Managing where she was “shadowing the production manager, making props, doing scene changes under the stage, looking at the whole process, working with the designers.” And this led to that ‘lucky break’ moment where she was drafted in to do design work in the 2007 Wexford Opera Festival, specifically Andrew Steggall’s production of Peter Brook’s La Tragedie de Carmen. “It was jumping in, wellies first, and it was terrific. I’m really proud of it. It was a simple set, curved wall with doors and cobblestone stage and we made every single one. A lot of love and hard work went into it.” Robert Hugill of Classical Music Daily lauded Bacon’s “economic but stylish sets,” a minimalist aesthetic which is evident in most of her work since then. After this, Bacon did the non-accredited, yet highly acclaimed, Motley Theatre Design one-year bootcamp where past alumni include Es Devlin. “You don’t get a piece of paper but just say I’ve been to Motley,” she laughs. Bacon tends to relish the technical challenges, “problems to be solved in collaboration with other people”, it’s the “emotional” ones which prove more obstinate. “It’s three to four months out when the real head-banging and hair-pulling happens. If you have communications with your director, you arrive to the first day of rehearsals with a clear idea. Then they are committed to the room and the designer is committed to making it all happen with the production manager. “Some directors are better at that,” she says, with a diplomatic smile. On City Song Bacon was addressing a new play which was open to a myriad of interpretations. “Many stories were woven through three generations in 24 hours, in one city, in a small space. There was a lot of work and a moment of inspiration which came quite late in the day.” This moment was manifested on stage through a striking cracked mirror which doubled as a map of Dublin, “a reflection of the people and the city”. In Marina Carr’s version of Hecuba, Bacon’s starting point was sitting down with director Lynne Parker. “We talked about who were these women – Hecuba and her daughters. I started trawling for visual inspiration. There are six different scenes so it was important we could make the changes without taking the audience out of the drama.” Bacon brought a minimalism to bear ensuring the writing took centre-stage. Indeed, this is a hallmark of the role of a successful set according to Bacon. “It should never take over. If people think the set was amazing, well, then the production has failed, they were looking at the wallpaper. If it has supported the production, held the play or the opera, that is what it was meant to do.” How many times have we found ourselves reaching for plaudits on set design to compensate for lack of praise of a script or direction? In terms of the tug and pull for asserting one’s role, Bacon is well-versed in how to negotiate these rapids. “It’s a collaborative process more than one of compromise, you learn which battles to pick. If that is the teacup you really love, I don’t mind, but those speakers have to go!” Rest assured, she’ll be right and that teacup probably didn’t look the part either. ● people think the set was amazing, well, then the production has failed, they were looking at the wallpaper. Sarah is pictured on the set of Hecuba in the Project Arts Centre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. Sarah is doing set and costume design for Drama at Inish which runs in the Abbey Theatre from November 21 until January 24 Jafaris’s Time 30