Saturday 25 March 

11am to 4pm exhibition open; 11am to 3pm workshops - all welcome

7 to 9pm talks

Sunday 26 March

11am to 4pm exhibition open; 11am to 3pm workshops - all welcome

Every four years the Society of British Theatre Designers organises a national exhibition to capture the work and trends of performance design across the UK. This year, in Kent we are curating a weekend of workshops and talks at The Margate School supported by an exhibition about the Performance Design process which is open to the public.

Hello Stranger is an exhibition about PERFORMANCE DESIGN, commissioned by the Society of British Theatre Designers

A WEEKEND OF WORKSHOPS, TALKS AND AN EXHIBITION SHOWING THE DESIGN PROCESS to engage children and adults alike.

The project is about welcoming designers, makers and audiences back to reconnect and catch up on the state of performance design.

As the world emerges from the pandemic and faces up to climate crisis, legacies of racism and inequality, global conflict and the continued impact of new technologies on our lives, we face a changed landscape for performance design.

TALKS  asking: how are performance designers responding and adapting to the key challenges of our times? How has our artform changed in response to a changing world? What voices have been missing from the conversation?

Organiser Kerry Bradley says of HELLO STRANGER:

"By placing the exhibition at The Margate School - an ethical and alternative liberal arts school located in an old Woolworths on the High Street in Margate, I aim to illustrate the design process to the local community as they pass by, and hopefully come in to experience the fabulous range of local Performance Design on show, not only through objects in a window display and throughout the space, but in workshops on set and costume design which will  run through both days.

"Local designers, performers and makers have also been invited and will join us on the Saturday evening to discuss the current design landscape: What does it look like after a pandemic, in a climate and financial crisis? What are the opportunities? How are we still celebrating the magic of Performance in all its’ elements, as local theatres shut and funding is continually cut? As technology develops and we move forward in uncertain times? As we live and work by the sea, how has this influenced our work?"