Written by Richard Bean, Harvest is the story of a farming family, the Harrisons, and the challenges they face. The story starts in 1914 and runs to the present day and is set in the kitchen of the family’s East Yorkshire farmhouse. Performed in February, the set design was by third-year Theatre & Performance Design students Evie Jones and Milly Noble. We spoke to them about their design, the inspiration behind it and the challenges they faced.
Evie: We decided very early on that we wanted to create something quite literal, something that was realistic. We studied old farmhouses, particularly ones from Yorkshire, but not just what materials were used and the look of them but also the architecture of them – how they were configured, how they worked in the context of the house.
Milly: The story covers over 100 years, which was a real challenge. We started off with a very basic, stripped back kitchen for 1914 and then for each new era we thought about what we could bring in – a fridge, a new cooker – to show time had moved on. We looked at what was available at the time and what the family could afford. We also introduced new colours on key elements, for example in the 70s the crookery featured bright floral designs.
Evie: After the costume parade I looked at our scale model of the set and the finished set and I was taken aback. They looked so a liked.
Milly: I feel we achieved exactly what we wanted, it felt like you were in a farmhouse, it felt real.
L-to-r: Harvest model box, a scale model used to communicate design ideas and concept with company, alongside the finished set.
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Harvest
Creative team
Director - David Salter
Set Designer - Evie Jones, Milly Noble
Costume Designer - Grace Roberts
Costume Supervisor - Kat Raffle
Lighting Designer - Aideen McGaharan
Associate Lighting Designer - Ethan Kolb
Sound Designer - Megan Hutchinson
Sound Composer - Maia Rowan
Intimacy and Voice Director - Gary Horner
Fight Director - Paul Doyle
Movement Director - Lisa-Marie Albes
Accent Director - Rosemary Berkon
Production team
Stage Manager - Jess Crabtree
Deputy Stage Manager - Hugh Patten
Assistant Stage Managers - Olivia Herr, Issy Kennard, Isabel Jones, Eve Wilkinson
Chief Electrician - Leon Sutliffe
Deputy Chief Electrician - Alex Jones
LX Programmer and Operator - Hannah Whitworth
Lighting Technicians - Joe Bain, Lou Edwards, Wyatt Schofield
Scenic Set Construction Technicians - Caz Davies, Victoria Sales
Assistant Flys - Reece Wood
Sound No.1 - Amelia Hope
Sound No. 2 - Luca Ruzzene
Production Sound Engineer - Finlay Calvey
Wigs, Hair & Make Up Support - Lola Garlick