Sara Perks: Theatre Design

Red Ladder Theater Company

Albion Electric Warehouse 2018

dir: Rod Dixon

“The other unsung hero of this often darkly funny version is Sara Perks’ design that moves the audience over the cellar’s rubble to meet brutal solders ….., venal generals and a motley crew of damaged survivors…….cleverly uses the promenade to show how it is very easy to lose your way – morally and physically – in a war where one minute is over, the next cannons are roaring round the space, and where Brecht never makes it clear who is in charge”

5* Paul Clarke - North West End

Red Ladder Theater Company

Albion Electric Warehouse, Leeds 2018

dir: Rod Dixon

“superbly dislillusioned. It’s set in a gutted warehouse that became both war bunker and killing field. The soldiers wear grotesque masks and the generals could be George Grosz caricatures..”

4* - The Sunday Times

Red Ladder Theater Company

Albion Electric Warehouse 2018

dir: Rod Dixon

‘battles and protests emerge from the corners of the basement in a truly immersive production’

‘the overall concept of [the] production that makes the strongest impression: the audience trailing round like camp followers on the battle-fields of Europe'

5* - the Reviews Hub

Red Ladder Theater Company

Albion Electric Warehouse 2018

dir: Rod Dixon

“Sara Perks’ design uses rather than dresses its site, leaving the rusting girders and exposed brick walls to generate their own atmosphere. The setting is often chilling – both literally and figuratively – and it reverberates hauntingly with the melodies of Boff Whalley’s evocative score”

Catherine Love - the Guardian

Mercury and Derby Theatres       dir: Daniel Buckroyd

"the crowning glory of this production, however, is Sara Perks' intricate and inventive set, which is well worthy of any West End theatre"   - J Bayley,  Derby Telegraph

Derby and Mercury Theatres

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

"the atmosphere bolstered by Sara Perks' evocative, two-tier set on a revolve" - Pat Ashworth 4* The Stage

Mercury and Derby Theatres    dir: Daniel Buckroyd

"a wonderfully practical and atmospheric set" - Dave Smith 4* Review Hub

Mercury and Derby Theatres

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

Mercury and Derby Theatres

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

Sell A Door Theatre Company

Arts Theatre London 2015, 2016 and UK tour 2016

dir: Racky Plews

" the staging was exceptional; Sara Perks' set is grungy and gritty, with some clever touches - such as a bus made mostly out of guitar cases.....the costumes are wonderfully punkish and dystopian; especially some wonderfully evil and demonic looking cheerleaders, who are either the stuff of dreams or nightmares"

Danny Coleman-Cook - British theatre.com

Sell A Door Theatre Company

Arts Theatre, London 2015, 2016; UK Tour 2016

dir: Racky Plews

"its something unpredictable, but you might just have the time of your life."

4* - Rachel Ward - The Telegraph

Sell A Door Theatre Company

Arts Theatre, London 2015; 2016; UK tour 2016

dir: Racky Plews

"pulsating Green Day grunge fest throbs with energy"

4* - Paul Taylor - The Independent

 Sell A Door Theatre Company

Arts Theatre, London 2015, 2016; UK Tour 2016

dir: Racky Plews

"a high octane piece of theatre you'd be an idiot to miss"

4*  Ben Hewis - Whats On Stage

Arts Theatre London, for Sell A Door

Dir: Racky Plews

BROADWAY WORLD AWARD NOMINATED:

SET DESIGN

COSTUME DESIGN

WHATS ON STAGE AWARD NOMINATED

SET DESIGN

Pilot Theatre UK Tour 2018

Adaptation: Bryony Lavery

Dir: Esther Richardson

Music: Hannah Peel

Ld: Aideen Malone

Sara Perks’ fabulous dark design – a fraction of iron pier towering overhead, steps which move and swirl and through which once, unforgettably, the skinny villain squirms between the steps to grab his quarry.

Libby Purves 4* Theatre Cat

Pilot Theatre Uk Tor 2018

Adaptation: Bryony Lavery

Dir: Esther Richardson

Music: Hannah Peel

LD: Aideen Malone

Designer Sara Perks' pliant multi platform set accommodates several locations and her broken, drab cage-of-a-pier is the centrepiece for the action. The evocative underground mobster world of southern England is all menace and eerie hue

James Willstrop 4* Whats On Stage

Pilot Theatre Uk Tor 2018

Adaptation: Bryony Lavery

Dir: Esther Richardson

Music: Hannah Peel

LD: Aideen Malone

…a world on a spectacular yet spare set, by Sara Perks….

Dominic Maxwell 4* The Times

UK Tour 2017-2018 – Mercury & Selladoor

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

"Everything, including set, costume and sound are spot on. This is a first class production which deserves to play to full houses every night......treat yourself"

5* Tony Bell - GrapeVine

UK Tour 2017-2018 – Mercury & Selladoor

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

UK Tour : Mercury & Selladoor 2017-2018

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

"Is this what a definitive Spamalot would look like?  There’s an orchestra pit for Carlton Edwards’ band, and the setting is picture-book pantomime, with a lovely little round castle, moving about like a chess piece. There’s even a sing-along finale, though the enthusiastic audience scarcely needed the words flown in … a fine end to a sharp, smart, scintillating production, guaranteed to help everyone to look on the bright side"

5* Michael Gray - Reviews Hub

UK Tour : Mercury & Selladoor 2017-2018

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

UK Tour 2017-2018 – Mercury & Selladoor

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

UK Tour: Mercury & Selladoor 2017

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

UK Tour: Mercury & Selladoor 2017

dir: Daniel Buckroyd

Mercury Theater 2014

dir: Tony Casement

"Sara Perks' splendid set design..."

Michael Gray  4* The Public Reviews

Mercury Theatre 2014

dir: Tony Casement

"Sara Perks' clever, dark, bold set...."

David Henshall -EADT 24

Mercury Theatre 2014

Dir: Tony Casement

"Sara Perks' clever design uses minimalism and sliding doors to take us from factory floor, to pub and then on to Nottingham's Goose Fair"

Lyn Gardner - The Guardian 4*

Mercury Theatre 2014

dir: Tony Casement

"Arthur's back! Post-war, cold war, angry, sexy. A very fine Saturday Night and Sunday Morning"

Libby Purves 4*  Theatre Cat

Mercury Theatre 2014

dir: Tony Casement

Curve, Leicester 2010/11
​National Tour 2012

​dir: Paul Kerryson​

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"This is a full-blown spectacle with classy West End production values and a considerable wow factor. Staged with real beauty and panache."

Lyn Gardener - The Guardian

Curve, Leicester 2010/11; National Tour 2012
​dir: Paul Kerryson​

​"Everything about this production yells spectacle. From the opening Rank-style gong to the closing image shrinking cinematically to a pinpoint, we’re in grand-scale, filmic territory complete with screen projections, giant sets and lavish costumes... Designer Sara Perks has pulled out all the stops. If I tell you that everything from an elephant to fireworks is somehow evoked on the versatile and imaginative set, you'll start to get some idea of the creativity at work."
​Michael Davies - Whats On Stage 5*

Curve, Leicester 2010/11
​National Tour 2011/12
​dir: Paul Kerryson

"the real star is the elegant and stylish set designed by Sara Perks, with its sleek black sliding partitions, elaborate golden Buddha's and creative use of shadow helped bring the world of Siam to life....Perks' costumes are also lavish and colourful and bring an added sense of depth to the overall production"

Steph Rowe - The Public Reviews 5*

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Curve, Leicester 2010/11
​National Tour 2012

dir: Paul Kerryson

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​"Visually it is stunning - sets and costumes look expensive and appropriate for a Royal household thanks to designer Sara Perks and lighting designer Philip Gladwell. The opening, featuring silhouettes, sliding screens and fans, is jawdroppingly good - and that's before the overture is even finished!"

Lizz Brain - Leicester Mercury at This Is Leicestershire

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre 2018 , York

dir: Damian Cruden

The production is handsomely costumed by Sara Perks, who dresses the characters in leather and furs…..

James Ballards - British Theatre Guide

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre

dir: Damian Cruden

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre

dir: Damian Cruden

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre

dir: Damian Cruden

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre 2018 , York

dir: Damian Cruden

National Theatre; Royal & Derngate
​dir: Laurie Sansom
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​"At the start of the play a soaring but dead tree forms a jagged silhouette against a lurid sky; this will turn, like the suits and dresses that become rags, into a featureless, and futureless, black"

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Jeremy Kingston - The Times - 5*​

National Theatre, Royal and Derngate 2009
dir: Laurie Sansom

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​"With Sara Perks' beautifully lit austere set, dominated by sinister, grasping old trees - it’s as if we’re hurtled headlong inside the merciless machinery of life itself."

Dominic Cavendish -The Telegraph 5*

National Theatre, Royal and Derngate 2009
dir: Laurie Sansom

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​"an impressive set design that shows the result of the Southern storms that have plagued the town. Sara Perks once again delivers an excellent, creative background for the story to be told against. Think An Inspector Calls, only one step further."

​John Johnstone – British Theatre Guide

dir: Cressida Carré

"Sara Perks’ apocalyptic design juxtaposes the fine dining set-up of the rural gastro pub where the club meets with rubble and blackened walls. It emphasises the desperate backlash of the privileged against a progressive agenda – those willing to burn the world down before surrendering their power."

Marainka Swain - Islington Gazette

dir: Cressida Carré

"The accoutrements of privilege are surrounded by stark, gutted walls in Sara Perks's powerfully suggestive design. It's as if the horror is always a foregone conclusion on these occasions.  And it's as if Wade had always intended this show, which has provided young male actors with some career-making opportunities, to be played by women in gender-reversed way. You feel that this is how she probably first heard these voices in her head"

5* Paul Taylor - The Independent

dir: Cressida Carré

"the charred black walls of Sara Perks design suggest that the damage has already been done. The aesthetic is of devils dining at hell's kitchen as a candleabra swings overhead. Between scenes, the Rioteers spin through slow-mo, strobe-lit bacchanals to raucous punk classics. For all their fineries, these are the real yobs. They have smashed more shit than any anarchist ever could. The tone, at times, is almost mournful."
Matt Truman - Whats On stage

Pleasance Theatre 2017

dir: Cressida Carré

"Evoking with it all the mournful chiaroscuro of one million Vanitas paintings, Sara Perks’s charred black walls and sparse dining room sets a bleak tone from the off. A sporadically spinning stage staves off monotony, offering a 360 degree view of the action"

Katie Prior - 4* The Up and Coming

Mercury Theatre/Dermot McLaughlin Productions - UK Tour

Adaptation by Tim Luscombe

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd

This is all framed by Sara Perks’ ominous set, where skewed pillars and a slanted proscenium loom over an effectively-realised mansion draped in dust sheets and cluttered with antique furniture.

Dave Fargnoli 4* The Stage

Mercury Theatre/Dermot McLaughlin Productions - UK Tour

Adaptation by Tim Luscombe

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd

Sara Perks massively imposing set of dust sheet covered furniture and huge skewed pillars also asks more than it answers and from the outset, when the rocking horse mysteriously uncovers itself and starts to move unaided, we know that there is something supernatural occurring – or is there ?

Paul Lucas Scott 4*

Mercury Theatre/Dermot McLaughlin Productions - UK Tour

Adaptation by Tim Luscombe

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd

Sara Perks ‘cleverly designed set within an askew frame provides a great backdrop for James’ masterly ghost story.

Barbara Michaels 4* reviewsHub

Cast, Doncaster

dir: Esther Richardson

"much appreciated too is the stunning beauty of Sara Perks' set with its crisp lines and slag heap silhouettes, lit by delicious sunset tints and blue blue skies"

Eileen Caiger Gray, DigYorkshire 4* 

Cast, Doncaster

dir: Esther Richardson

Cast, Doncaster

dir: Esther Richardson

Cast, Doncaster

dir: Esther Richardson

Magdalen Road Tramshed, Colchester for The Mercury 2009
​A 
collaborative project led by Gari Jones and Sara Perks​

Magdalen Road Tramshed, Colchester for The Mercury 2009
​A 
collaborative project led by Gari Jones and Sara Perks

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​Magdalen Road tramshed, Colchester for The Mercury - 2009
​A collaborative project led by Gari Jones and Sara Perks
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​" I attended the 10.30pm performance that finished at 1am this morning and consider this to be one of the most exciting and innovative use of space for a theatre production that I have ever seen locally or nationally. It is most certainly an attack on the senses.  This was a captivating experience that had me spellbound throughout"

Ray Hollingsworth - What's On Stage

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​Magdalen Road Tramshed, Colchester for The Mercury 2009
​A 
collaborative project led by Gari Jones and Sara Perks

​Magdalen Road Tramshed, Colchester for The Mercury 2009
​A 
collaborative project led by Gari Jones and Sara Perks

​Magdalen Road Tramshed, Colchester for The Mercury 2009
​A 
collaborative project led by Gari Jones and Sara Perks

​

Nottingham Playhouse 2015

Dir: Giles Croft

".... of this production is Sara Perks’ tremendous set. Set on multiple levels and lit by LEDs, the play’s locations are represented with ease..."

Laura Jayne Batemen – reviews Hub

Nottingham Playhouse 2015

dir: Giles Croft

"Firstly, upon entering the Nottingham Playhouse, the audience are struck by theatre designer Sara Perks’ brilliant staging choices. With four varied settings placed at different levels, the production is able to move between elements of its plot in an instant."

Georgina Varley – Hercampus

Nottingham Playhouse 2015

dir: Giles Croft

"Critics’ Circle is unanimous in the feeling that designer Sara Perks has done something creative and innovative with this production. The series of mini stages which depict a variety of locations, from the home of the undercover officer’s family to the victim’s apartment, demonstrate how the events are uncomfortably and dangerously drawn together"

Olivia Rook, Critics Circle Main Editor Nottingham

Curve, Leicester 2012
dir: Paul Kerryson

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"I especially likes Sara Perks's designs which evoke the American past through monochrome magazine ads....with its wit, tunefulness and protrait of the toxic nature of star worship, this is a tremendous musical"​

Michael Billington - The Guardian 5*​

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Curve, Leicester 2012
dir: Paul Kerryson

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Curve, Leicester 2012

dir: Paul Kerryson

Curve, Leicester 2012
​dir: Paul Kerryson

Curve, Leicester 2012
​dir: Paul Kerryson​

Tamasha Theatre; UK tour 2015

dir: Esther Richardson

'Supporting the actors is Sara Perks’ set. Almost industrial, it has a life of its own, full of secret compartments and lit panels allowing the action to flow smoothly and for the same space to stand in for several locations"

Reviews Hub – Selwyn Knight 5*

Tamasha Theatre; UK Tour 2015

dir: Esther Richardson

The staging and Sara Perks’ design is smart, subtle and versatile. It is part back wall, part shelving unit that folds out into restaurant tables, beds, windows, or any given location in any given corner of the world. It is completely unassuming and yet utterly useful. There seems to be an unending amount of secret compartments, opening floor boards, and storage spaces that set scenes almost unnoticeably.

Rebecca Jones – Everything Theatre 4*

Tamasha Theatre; UK tour 2015

dir: Esther Richardson

"Fantastic combination of exemplary writing, performing and designing in one"

A Younger Theatre

Tamasha Theatre; UK Tour 2015

dir: Esther Richardson

"Sara Perks’s imposing, multi-functional set enables the actors to move seamlessly from canteen to Nando’s to shisha bar, Pakistani kitchen and run-down bedsit. With the addition of a curtain and picture frames together with Aideen Malone’s lighting design, the net effect is a clever evocation of place and time."

Sally Jack- British Theatre Guide

National Tour 2014

(Mercury;WYP;Salisbury;Liverpool Co-production)

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd  Choreography: Andrew Wright

National Tour 2014

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd   Choreography: Andrew Wright 

National Tour 2014

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd  Choreo: Andrew Wright

National Tour 2014

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd  Choreography: Andrew Wright

National Tour 2014

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd    Choreography Andrew Wright

National Tour 2014

Dir: Daniel Buckroyd   Choreography: Andrew Wright

dir: Damian Cruden

UK tour 2016

English Touring Theatre and York Theatre Royal

"A stunning trope – Sara Perks’ superb design with sliding panels like a variable camera shutter functions beautifully as reminiscence blinking flickr, a colour-shifting backdrop, chairs, staircase, descending empty picture frames, you enjoy a supremely flexible set. Most striking’s a storm-tossed tryst on deck: two seats yoked together slid along a rope hauled back and forth by two cast members doubling as deckhands, a literal case of all hands on deck"

Simon Jenner Fringe Review

dir: Damian Cruden

UK Tour

English Touring Theatre and York Theatre Royal

dir: Damian Cruden

UK Tour 2016

English Touring Theatre and York Theatre Royal

"Perhaps the most powerful and striking feature of Brideshead Revisited is its overall visual aesthetic and scenography, excellently designed by Sara Perks. There’s a distinctly minimalist attitude towards the design, with very little furniture being used. At the back of the space, large black flats continually move to create doorways, windows and vantage points that emphasise entrances and exits and maintain the fluidity of the piece’s scene transitions."

Adam Bruce - A Younger Theatre

dir: Damian Cruden

UK Tour 2016

English Touring Theatre and York Theatre Royal

dir: Damian Cruden

UK Tour

York Theatre Royal and English Touring Theatre

The Mercury, Colchester 2012

dir: Gari Jones

The Mercury, Colchester 2012
dir: Gari Jones

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​Curve, Leicester 2012/3

dir: Paul Kerryson

Curve, Leicester 2012/3

dir: Paul Kerryson

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Curve, Leicester 2012/3

dir: Paul Kerryson

Northcott, Exeter 2005
​dir: Ben Crocker

​"Sara Perks has designed an impressive and immensely detailed multi-level set to accommodate the fast, furious and increasingly far-fetched action, much of which is played simultaneously in the bedroom and sitting room of this curious Victorian villa. Set near London’s King’s Cross, trains belching out smoke regularly rumble past, and with pictures set at odd angles on uneven walls, nothing is quite as it appears."

Anne Broom - The Stage​

Northcott, Exeter 2005
​dir: Ben Crocker

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Mercury Theatre 2018

dir: Katie Posner

Mercury Theatre 2018

dir: Katie Posner

Mercury Theatre 2018

dir: Katie Posner

Royal Theatre, Northampton

dir: Gary Sefton

Royal Theatre, Northampton

dir: Gary Sefton

Royal Theatre, Northampton

dir: Laurie Sansom

Royal Theatre, Northampton

dir: Gary Sefton

Costume Design

Royal Theatre, Northampton

dir: Gary Sefton

Costume Design

Mercury Theatre,  Colchester - 2010

dir: Gari Jones

Mercury Theatre,  Colchester - 2010

dir: Gari Jones

Mercury Theatre,  Colchester - 2010

dir: Gari Jones

​Red Ladder - touring 2008/9
​dir: Rod Dixon

Red Ladder, touring 2008/9
​dir: Rod Dixon
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​"Rod Dixon's production is undeniably theatrical. And it’s made more so by designer Sara Perks (one of several fine women designers whose work has enhanced northern stages in recent years). This is despite the cinematic black and white style (or rather black and grey), and a cinematic approach to entrances and exits, as hands, heads or bodies emerge or disappear through floor and walls."

Timothy Ramsden – reviewsgate

Mercury Theatre, Colchester -  2010

dir: Dee Evans

Mercury Theatre,  Colchester - 2010

dir: Dee Evans

Mercury Theatre,  Colchester - 2010

dir: Dee Evans

The Mercury, Colchester 2006
​dir: Nikolai Foster

The Mercury, Colchester 2006
​dir: Nikolai Foster

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The Mercury, Colchester 2006
​dir: Nikolai Foster

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dir: Paul Kerryson​

Curve, Leicester 2010
dir: Paul Kerryson

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​The Mercury, Colchester 2010
​dir: Gari Jones

​The Mercury, 2010
​dir: Gari Jones