Ms Loren Elstein [She/Her]
Ecostage Pledger
Can you tell us something about yourself?
I am a Set and Costume Designer working in Film, Theatre, Dance & Opera.
In WWII, my grandfather, a scenery artist, created an illusion of the city of London in a field in Kent with a barricade of 2D trucks on the beach in Folkstone. Some decades later, I grew up assisting him and my dad in their Blackfriars Scenery workshop on the creation of sets by Mark Fisher and Es Devlin.
I completed my Art and Design Foundation Course at Ravensbourne. In 2004, I travelled to North Queensland, Australia to carve my own path. I became an underwater photographer, worked on storytelling projects with indigenous communities and designed for immersive live shows in venues such as rainforests, prisons, caves and floating pontoons.
I then trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia where I received the Best Design Award from the Australian Production Design Guild for Loot (Joe Orton) in 2012.
In 2013, I returned to London to work as Associate Designer for Anna Fleischle on shows such as Hangmen by Martin McDonagh (Royal Court, West End, NYC), Jamie (West End) and John (DV8, National Theatre)
I currently work with some of the UK’s most exciting established and emerging creators in Theatre and Dance. I have designed Costumes, Sets and Installations for productions at The South Bank Centre, The Lyric Hammersmith, The Royal Court, Welsh National Opera, Rambert and Royal Exchange Theatre.
My current projects include:
Once Upon A One More Time Dir: David Leveaux (Broadway)
Untitiled F*ck M*ss S**gon Dir: Roy Weise (Young Vic , Headlong)
I have a commitment to working sustainably within my practice and welcome any support to make this possible.
Follow my blog on sustainable travel: https://timeoutout.com/
What was the turning point when you became ecologically aware and decided to take action?
Working my Saturday job as a teen at my fathers scenery company often involved smashing scenery and flattage apart to fit in the skip. I began contacting local schools to donate scenery, a local hat maker for felt scraps, community projects for half tins of paint. Its been a journey or more so a battle since then to take action where possible.
