'Earthquakes in London'

Toi Whakaari is producing 'Earthquakes in London' in 2013.   Oliver Morse will lead the production design and I will work alongside designing costumes.  Kaarin Macaulay will head costume construction. Jonathan Hendry will direct and lead this great team.

I had a first read of the play today.  It's a great play! Relevant and ambitious.

My background though is in spacial design. Costume is something new.  What am I doing leading a costume department?

The relation of costume to performer, set and story is new territory.  Exploring form, character, movement, colour, textiles and texture as a way in to story is not. I have drawn on these tools many times before. There's no better way to enhance the depth of my knowledge than to try these same tools in an unfamiliar field.

I have not changed, what I bring does not change but the task I bring myself to has. This shift of skill to foreign role is a great way to innovate.

Artists often specialise. Specialising is dangerous. Artists need to be feed by information but also by problems. The more diverse the problem the better for innovation.  By being open to learning and shifting our skills into new areas we can come at problems in ways others might not. What better way for everyone to learn? What better way to create exciting, innovative work that audiences haven't seen before?