DESIGN FOR STAGE & SCREEN

Celebrating Ensemble Spirit & Individual Ambition

Whether your dream is to design costumes for period dramas on television, create an opening ceremony for the Olympics, design for Opera, or work in devised theatre you can learn the skills you need to follow your passion at Toi Whakaari. You make the choices and together we will work to develop your career.

Do you have original visual ideas?

Designers make for the eye; they initiate, collaborate and make visual responses. Design is a process of germination, gathering different media and ideas to create a visual aesthetic and meaning. The skills and practice are applied to screen work as well as live performance and events. We weave our work alongside that of a director, writer, devisor or performer.

Download a copy of our 2012 Design brochure here.

The course:

• Develops designers who demonstrate creativity, originality and critical thinking, empowering them to drive the performing arts culture in New Zealand
• Equips students with the skills and mindset to enable them to forge and sustain a career in the performing arts
• Celebrates diversity in skills, teaching, methodology and ambition
• Investigates and encourages collaborative processes of interdisciplinary work that provide effective and innovative models for industry practice
• Prepares students for design careers in theatre, film and related industries
• Ignites a passion to tell the stories of Aotearoa and beyond

Design students benefit from working alongside students of directing, acting, entertainment technology, performing arts management and costume construction. Through sharing premises with NZ School of Dance, and having a key relationship with The Film School, student designers also have opportunities to collaborate with contemporary dance and film students.

Successful Graduates

Even though this is a new course, the School has already produced some of New Zealand’s most successful theatre designers, including many Chapman Tripp Theatre Award winners, the set dresser for Outrageous Fortune and a model maker for King Kong. Check out more of our successes here.