Young designer creates intriguing design for new production of Constellations at Stephen Joseph Theatre

TK Hay points out another dimension to the cognitive dissonance of being a theatre designer particularly pertinent to him.

“I had to apologise when I collected an award recently because I fumbled a lot – I’m not used to being in front of people,” he says.

“Designers are not used to being in the spotlight.”

But their work definitely is. The award Hay was collecting was The Stage Debut Award earlier this year for his work on An Adventure at the Bolton Octagon.

His somewhat endearing recollection of fumbling in the spotlight is a surprise because you might expect him to be used to collecting awards by now. He was also the recipient of the highly coveted Linbury Prize for Stage Design in 2019 and before that a National Arts Council scholarship from his native Singapore.

Not bad at all considering he wasn’t really setting out to be a theatre designer at all.

“I did my GCSEs and A Levels with the idea that I was going to study architecture. I did actually study architecture for a couple of years and then I dropped out – because I was terrible. I hated it,” he says.

Architecture’s loss was theatre’s gain.

“I think because I came here to study from Singapore, I have a different context to most designers. For me, when I work with a director on a production, I am always interested in and asking about the context of the play. That is the thing I am most interested in, what is the context of the play and how can a design work to that,” he says.

“It has to serve the story, I always respect the material. If I was interested in my work holding the audience and being the thing that people are there to see, then I would go and be a visual artist.”

This dedication to the story and to creating design that works best with it almost did Hay out of a job when he was approached by Stephen Joseph Theatre artistic director Paul Robinson.

The director is at the helm of a new production of the extraordinary play Constellations. In 2012 it won playwright Nick Payne Best New Play at the Evening Standard Awards, making him the award’s youngest ever recipient. It was also nominated for several Olivier awards including for SJT associate artist Simon Slater’s music score, which will be used in the SJT production.

“When I first spoke to Paul about it, I asked ‘why do you need a design for this?’. The play only needs two people on stage, what can a designer add to it?,” says Hay.

Fortunately Robinson convinced the reticent designer that a design was indeed necessary for the production.

“I tried to make sure I had a good emotional barometer. With my design I had to find a way to never get in the way of what is happening on stage, never getting in the way of the story.”

The reason TK Hay is so adamant not to get in the way of the story is because it is a complex, sweeping epic and intimate tale. It tells the story of beekeeper Roland and scientist Marianne, the roles are being played by Emilio Iannucci and Carla Harrison-Hodge in the SJT production and it looks at their relationship via the prism of parallel universes, in a manner that will remind audiences of the hit 1998 film Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah or the Kate Atkinson novel Life After Life, which was recently adapted for television.

“It is a story that is about infinite possibilities. I’m sure my design is quite literal, but I wanted to look at how you respond to the idea of infinite possibilities. The play also asks ‘what if?’ it is the idea of a ‘what if’ that haunts us all the time, so I tried to find a way to represent that in the design,” says Hay.

What he has come up with is virtually impossible to photograph and quite difficult to describe. “I am very nervous. We are playing with some very unusual material, it’s the first time I have worked with this kind of material and the first time I have used a space in quite this way. So I am nervous about what audiences will think, but I think I am also relatively hopeful.”

For the modest designer who shuns the spotlight to admit as much means audiences should prepare for something quite special.

At Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, October 28-November 12. sjt.uk.com