VCA graduate and John Truscott Prize winner Ishan Vivekanantham designs ‘The Lyrebird’s Voice’ for Victorian Opera

The John Truscott Prize, awarded in honour of the late theatre designer, Academy-Award-winning film designer and festival director, John Truscott, celebrates the discovery and support of emerging creative talent. As part of the prize, Ishan designed the Victorian Opera production of children’s opera ‘The Lyrebird’s Voice’, which has recently finished its season.

“I decided to apply for the prize because it seemed like a great opportunity to interact with a mainstage company and make the jump from working in independent theatre to mainstage theatre, which can be challenging for young designers in Melbourne,” explains Ishan.

“Having Richard [Roberts, Head of Design at the VCA] as my mentor made the process less daunting and provided valuable professional development.”

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Richard echoes this sentiment.

“The Truscott Prize provides a valuable opportunity for young designers, in an industry where such opportunities are becoming increasingly harder to come by,” he says.

Ishan studied the Bachelor of Design at the University of Melbourne, majoring in mechanical engineering, but instead found his way to performance design by way of a breadth subject.

He got hooked on performance design, excelled in his capstone project, and then went on to the master’s program.

“He's very determined and understands how to hold onto his core design ideas while also being flexible, which are important skills to have in the industry, says Richard.

"He’s gone from strength to strength as a designer, so I was completely delighted when I found out he had won the prize.”

Ishan credits his Truscott Prize win to his previous experience in designing for children’s theatre, as well as the portfolio he laboured over for a month.

“I was proud of the portfolio I submitted as part of my application. There was a digital version featuring my previous work, but I also made a physical copy that had pop-up elements,” explains Ishan.

Ishan’s original design concept for The Lyrebird’s Voice featured a naturalistic Australian bush scene, using muted greens and browns.

When he thought more about the challenge of keeping young kids engaged during a 50-minute opera, he decided to dial up the saturation.

“It’s a challenging opera to design for, because it moves through scenes quickly, with many vignettes that make up a larger story. The scenes range from 60 seconds to three minutes in length, so in a 50-minute opera there are many scene changes required,” explains Ishan.

The story of the Opera involves a judgemental monarchy of birds, a vengeful Lyrebird, deforestation, hungry cats and a rescue mission.

“I designed distinct sets for multiple locations, including lush forests, the deforested area, and the cats' lair, using techniques like fabric trees that transform to show deforestation,” says Ishan.