Our artistic director Kevin Finnan has used sets in Motionhouse shows since 1988 – most of which were designed and built by set designer Simon Dormon. Find out more from Kevin and Simon about the set for Hidden…

“For me, the set gives context and a sense of place. It helps create a world in which the narrative can unfold. In our work, the set also serves as the apparatus, allowing us to use height, to add risk, jeopardy and excitement in the shows, which juxtaposes with the thoughtful, moving and emotional movement that we also use.

In Hidden, the main components of the set are two 3D triangular wedge shapes. When these are covered in the specialist fabric that we use, they become moving screens within the space, which gives us multiple moving surfaces to project onto, resulting in a three-dimensional use of film on stage. These triangles give us a whole range of geometrical shapes to play with, as well as more planes than we’ve ever had before to use as projection screens. The triangles are extremely transformable and we’re moving them together in different ways to change the world on stage and to allow for dynamic action.

In Act Two, the two triangles are transformed into a 5.6 metre-long, 45-degree ramp, which is approximately 4m high at its highest point. This enables a completely new movement language, in turn leading to this becoming a very poignant and moving resolution to the show.”

“It was a long and quite technically challenging process to create this set – to create structures the right size that are lean and efficient, just structural enough to enable the work (with the all-important jeopardy!) but easy enough for the dancers to move so that the set becomes part of the choreography. One of the pleasing things is the wide range of possibilities that the two structures provide, creating some quite unexpected shapes. The way Kevin and the team have developed their use of technology in Hidden now allows the projection to follow the moving structures on stage. I hope Hidden really breaks new ground in this sense, and the way that the two structures can come together to create new worlds, transforming the environment on stage, makes this set a very exciting project to be involved in.”