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WINNER Australian Interior Design Awards Installation Catergory, 2016

“I can love you and drink. Or I cannot love you and not drink. That’s the choice.” Paul Peplow, poet and ex-alcoholic, is on the straight and narrow. But one unforgettable London summer threatens to undo him. When Paul is sent to interview charismatic millionaire Victor, he’s invited into a new, enticing world. But it’s a dangerous game. As he trades verbal blows with Victor – and flirts with his wife Elsa – the walls of Paul’s carefully constructed sobriety start to crumble…

This witty, biting three-hander from award-winning playwright David Hare (SKYLIGHT, PLENTY) puts addiction under the spotlight and asks: can you let yourself go without losing control?

Tobhiyah was presented with the challenge to design for two productions in repertory in the Ensemble Theatre 2015 season. After consulting with both directors, Mark Kilmurry and Anthony Skuse to identify the needs and wants for each show Tobhiyah decided to invest the full budget into one multi-purpose playing space. This liberation from specificity of time and place brought about an evocative, abstract stage beautifully lit by Nicholas Higgins.

**** 4 Stars. “Exceptional acting in a compassionate production….Structurally the play is just a cumulative series of conversations which Kilmurry locates on Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s stark, non-literal set so they never seem contrived.”

John Shand, SMH

“The events of the play take place on Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s minimalistic, yet striking set design. An entirely white stage allows the focus to be concentrated on the insular world depicted in the play. Use of few props augments this effect, with an assortment of alcoholic drinks posing as a central emblem of the play. The ambience is changed in a moment as the space becomes awash with light through Nicholas Higgins’ lighting design.”

Upstaged Reviews

“Visual elements are effectively minimal, but subtle design flourishes are executed with remarkable elegance. Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s set and Nicholas Higgins lights provide the illusion of emptiness, but provide immense scope for sentimental fluctuations. What appears to be cold and hard on the surface, is actually quite subconsciously moving with each transition of scenes.”

Suzy Wrong, Suzy Goes See

“On a serenely abstract and cunningly lit set the focus is sharply on the three actors and the text that enmeshes them like a seine net of conflicting emotions and motives.”

Diana Simmonds, Stage Noise

“The scene is set for intense action in the “modernist corridors” of Victor’s House, brilliantly imagined by designer Tobhiyah Stone Feller and lit by Nicholas Higgins. In some of the best-designed scenes I’ve witnessed at the Ensemble, the action goes forward unexpectedly.”

Frank Hatherley, Stage Whispers

***** 5 Stars.“Keeping the set to an absolute minimal magnifies the dialogue; the drama on stage is electric enough. Nicholas Higgins lighting complimented Tobhiyah Stone Feller’s stylized colouration of minimal props as the only punctuations, further underscoring the elegance of this production.”

Gina Fairley, ArtsHub

Set & Costume Design: TOBHIYAH STONE FELLER

Team: DANIEL STUKEL BEASLY, JEFF TIGHE

Photographer: CLARE HAWLEY

Director: MARK KILMURRY

Playwright: DAVID HARE

Lighting Design: NICHOLAS HIGGINS

Costume Supervisor: ALANA CANCERI

Production Management: TOM BLUNT

Production Co-ordination & Art Finishing: SIMON GREER

Set Construction: SIMON BOYD, BELVOIR SET WORKSHOP

Cast: DANIELLE CARTER, SAM O’SULLIVAN, SEAN TAYLOR

Photographer: CLARE HAWLEY

Ensemble Theatre Sydney
Oct- Nov 2015

Project Number: 1426