Zhan Lu

Performance Design / Landscape Architecture

Zhan Lu has recently completed her final year of study in the Bachelor of Design, including Performance design and Landscape architecture.

Zhan designed the set for Black Medea that was written and directed by Wesley Enoch and set for Virginia Woolf's Orlando that is an adaptation by Sarah Ruhl during her undergraduate studies.




Orlando

In Virginia Woolf's Orlando, the body of my design is the oak tree, which represents Orlando himself/herself, with hanging props that is the experience, memory or anything that would affect Orlando. The tree has been designed as half alive and half dead corresponding to the inner ambivalence of Orlando and the final ambiguous ending. In addition, it is the constantly revolving element on stage, that shows the time passes. The outer ring of the ring revolve represents distance change.

Thus, the tree has been confined to one area by walls provides the trapped feeling. The top platform provides space for Chorus, who has been set as Orlando in different life nodes. The falling props and collapsing walls at the end caused the audience to think about Orlando's ending.

The lighting design tries to highlight the sense of loneliness and being trapped. Costumes are used for representing the time's change. The chorus costume considered more about their characteristics, and magnified the one element, to distinguish them from the main characters and out of touch with time and stage.