The Borrowers – Set Design

A note from Paul Wills on designing The Borrowers

Designing The Borrowers for The Gate theatre has been a real creative joy. 

Working alongside Director Roisin McBrinn our aim was to bring the characters alive in a fresh way to a new audience.  We were familiar with the stories and the various movies and adaptations but we decided to take a fresh perspective. 

We knew quite early on that we wanted to explore video design as a way to bring the Borrowers alive, and therefore the silhouettes needed to be bold and clear.  With this came a strong colour palette and unusual shapes.  They are recognisable but they have their own identity, culture, fashion and in our version their hair can grow in wild colours! 

I was keen to always make them feel as little as possible so we chose to make their clothes out of recognisable objects that would help scale them down. Arriety’s dungarees are made from a label from a TK Lemonade bottle. Pod the explorer has made his clothes in an origami style out of old maps and Homily has crafted her luxurious ensemble from old hankies, dollies and a shuttlecock!  It was a lot of fun to find a story for every object. 

The world above the boards is drab and dark whilst the world of The Borrowers is bohemian and colourful.  A strong contrast. 

The Gate is a very unique space.  Our biggest question was how can we transform the space quickly and help change the scale and locations.  Using a series of legs and headers and some very clever motors we have been able to keep the space very fluid.  On an already quite small stage we can reduce the stage space to make it feel more cramped or expand it using our legs and headers to make it feel more expansive.  This gives us lots of options for moving above and below the boards. 

Our large video screen helps give texture and character to the scenes whilst the scenery allows for some lovely shadows and architectural lighting.  Sarah Jane and Dick Straker have worked closely together to create a harmonious world to help express Arriety’s vision of their world but more importantly the world beyond. 

Moving between the different locations and scales was a scenic challenge.  Nothing could be inherently one thing or the other…there could be no specific wood paneling or detail that would clash when we moved above and below the boards, so we worked closely with Sandra our scenic painter to create a world that was more abstract.  The walls could suggest floorboards in one moment and wall paneling in the next.  We were inspired by Irish Cubist artists MAINIE JELLETT and Mary Swanzy, especially their use of colours and textures…. 

This journey of designing “The Borrowers” has been not just a creative endeavor, but a celebration of storytelling, collaboration, and the magic of theatre. 

This programme note is an excerpt from the programme for THE BORROWERS, available exclusively from the Gate Theatre café, bar and box office.