A group of leading theatre designers have formed scene/change – a Community that brings designers together at a moment of great uncertainty for the theatre industry and its creative professionals, to join in conversation and explore how to navigate a way through this time.
Scene /Change aims to provide a platform for all theatre set and costume designers, established and emerging, associates and assistants. It also offers a place for freelance creatives from all theatre disciplines to join in
dialogue, share experience and tackle the challenges ahead.
Freelance creative artists form the major part of the theatre ecology – of the 290,000 jobs in the UK Theatre Industry, over two thirds of those are freelance or self-employed, and it’s clear that their voice needs to be included in the evolution of a new theatrical ecosystem.
Scene/Change began as a small email exchange ‘Dialogue in Strange Times’ between a group of set & costume designers : Bunny Christie, Lizzie Clachan, Anna Fleischle, Soutra Gilmore, Madeleine Girling, Max Jones, Katrina Lindsay, Vicki Mortimer, Tom Piper, Jemima Robinson, Rajha Shakiry, Rae Smith, Ben Stones, Lily Arnold, Jon Bausor, Ruth Hall, Natasha Jenkins, Simon Kenny, Lucy Osborne and continues to expand. Now it is a wide community of designers covering the breadth of the discipline and growing to over 700 members, promoting ways of coming together in conversation and action in support of theatre.
Scene/Change will be hosting a number of events within the theatre community to discuss and share experiences on the impact of Covid-19. Taking place via Zoom, these are informal dialogues; and bring people together at a time of increasing isolation.
Meanwhile, the Scene/Change website offers a wide variety of resources with a blog from designers across the spectrum, an open forum, information on support and emergency funding for freelancers and
artists, as well as providing a community and network at this challenging time.
In a statement, Scene/Change said: “This is a moment of reset in our industry and we believe the Design community can be an essential part of the transformation that will see theatre buildings being reopened and the ways in which theatre can be reimagined. As shapers of theatrical space through the use of people and place, our work is pivitol in connecting an entire ecosystem within the Theatre Industry. We are ideally positioned to be at the heart of any discussions about how theatre operates in the future.”
To find out more about Scene/Change visit: https://www.scene-change.com/