FAR AWAY

Queensland Theatre Company 2004

WRITER: Caryl Churchill
DIRECTOR: Leticia Caceres
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER: Tanja Beer
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Jo Curry

Performed at the Bille Brown Studio
Brisbane, Australia

INFO:
Far Away evokes a world on the verge of disintegration, and probes issues extremely topical in our present era. Dark, futuristic and epic, this story deals chillingly with the dehumanisation of the ‘Other’ in times of war. The set includes a double revolving stage that chimes with the dichotomies of the play, and splits in half to transport us from Grandma’s eerie cottage home in the woods to a “Schindler’s List-esque” hat factory.

PRESS:

“…A superb set..”
Scene

“…A stunning set by Tanja Beer that manages to function as both locales and provides a bleak suggestion of a holocaust-style gas chamber..”
Brisbane News

“Far Away evokes a world on the brink of disintegration, a terrible vision reinforced by Tanja Beer’s unsettling design.”
Time off

“Designer Tanja Beer used this episodic nature of the script to create two completely different sets that rotate on platforms, successfully splitting life from the comfortable lounge to the grey blankness of the workplace.”
Independent Qld

“The hats themselves are a remarkable array, paraded by a veritable army of volunteers, and a credit to the designer Tanja Beer allude to the various “hats” we choose to wear in our daily lives, the different roles we play, the choices we make ideological and emotional”.
The Courier Mail

“Tanja Beer’s design was nothing less than wonderful…In addition, her vast array of hat designs – designed perhaps to denote the various ‘hats’ we wear in the course of our lives – were quite spectacular.”
ABC Brisbane

THE ORPHANAGE PROJECT

Queensland Theatre Company 2003

WRITER: Angela Betzien
DIRECTOR: Leticia Caceres
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER: Tanja Beer
LIGHTING DESIGNER: Jo Curry

Performed at the Bille Brown Studio
Brisbane, Australia.

INFO:
The Orphanage Project is an Australian Gothic fairytale, told in a mythical, timeless orphanage. Several characters and stories are played out in various locations against the backdrop of the Australian landscape. The set and direction makes use of the wide performance space and transports the audience through time - from the early settler’s frontier, to a 1900’s orphanage, through to a contemporary prison. The use of shadow play on the screens creates a haunting effect, a reference to the spirits haunting the past of this Nation.

PRESS:

“With such physicality driving the scenes, and an excellent use of music hall shadow plays, director Leticia Caceres and Designer Tanja Beer are given plenty of visual material to work on, and they make full use of the large performance space. Windows and doors open everywhere and points of focus shift repeatedly, helping this slick production to rattle along with only moments of reflection.”
The Australian
 

“The design team has created a dreamily evocative and versatile set. The production’s real strength lies in its styling and design, and its wonderful re-invention of Gothic horror”
Scene
 

“On the wide stage of the Bille Brown Studio, designer Tanja Beer has placed a Gothic Orphanage on the sparse, sometimes inimical but beautiful Australian landscape where the Nation’s stories are coalesced into a play”
Time Off Magazine
 

“Designer Tanja Beer’s use of silhouette as an extended stage area was a fantastic addition, the large frames work in providing an eerie backdrop to the narrative”
Independent Qld
 

“Tanja Beer’s design is clever, utilising the space in interesting ways and managing to incorporate the enormous screens required as well as some real trees.”
M/C Reviews