Yuxin
Shi

Performance Design

Yuxin Shi is a recent graduate from the Bachelor of Design (Performance Design), specialising in event design at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).

Yuxin found her passion in performance design in her first year of university life, during her undergraduate study, she completed the stage design of two plays, Orlando and Black Medea, and the lighting and costume design for Orlando. She has also been a member of Melbourne University Chinese Theatre Group (MUCTG) and participated in the lighting design of two plays, The Kung-Fu Man and The Man from the Earth.




Orlando

The main design concept for the play Orlando is transformation, not only the story but also show the transformation from the set, costume and lighting. For the set, I choose to use the moveable flat with arch-shaped openings on it, during the performance, the flat will change the location and shape, it has two different shapes, one is straight, under this situation, it can represent the exterior place, the other is angled, the flat on the two sides will rotate 120 degrees by the performers during the play, which can form a trapezoid place.

The openings on the flat enable the space to move more seamlessly between interior and exterior. Behind the flat are the tree-shaped flats and branches at the back, there create the feeling of a mysterious forest and add more layers to the stage.

Also, there is an oak tree wrap the stage on the right-hand side, this is a part of the oak tree, through this part, the audience can imagine that this is a very dense oak tree that has existed for hundreds of years, two huge branches intertwined, which provides a standing space for the actors. Moreover, masking and gauze are also used in this design, for several scenes, the masking hides the tree flats, and gauze can provide more possibility to the lighting.

I use costumes to show the characteristics of different eras. When I was designing clothes, I blended the popular clothes of various periods and the personality of the characters. The selection and collocation of colours also refer to famous European paintings to make the colours more harmonious.

Lighting is also important in the design, which can help to convey different emotions, through different colours and intensities of light, we can feel calm or excited, joy or melancholy, day or night, the changes of the times, I also use gauze to create a hazy feeling. The light on the gauze will have this random change, through this phenomenon, a kind of effect of the water vapour in the air diffuses and the smoke is filled can be achieved.