Set and Costume Designer Bianca Pardo on process and perfectionism
1. How do you begin?
First things first, I ensure that I read the play in an uninterrupted space and block of time. After I’ve had a bit of space to potentially re-read and mull the themes and ideas over, I spend a more concerted amount of time noting all the Set, Costume and Prop requirements from the script and scribble any ideas down. From there I will meet the Director and discuss initial ideas for the design and begin!
2. What is your objective in your work for Spare a Thought for Jana Wendt?
My objective for my Set Design work for Spare a Thought for Jana Wendt is to create a luxe Air BnB! In a small space like La Mama, we need to create a design that suggests luxury and expanse without fully illustrating the entire house completely naturalistically. The focus for the costumes is to suggest each character’s financial situation, as that is a tension point throughout the play, and to lean into all of their particular personality quirks.
3. How do you know when something is “finished”?
Opening Night! The blessing and curse of theatre is that we have very hard and fast deadlines. As a Designer and a perfectionist, I will make changes and adjustments all the way up to Opening Night. Sometimes I am really happy with where everything has landed but sometimes, I would have preferred to do things differently or have more time to keep fixing things up.
Bianca is a passionate Melbourne/Naarm-based designer and maker. Both set and costume excite her and she endeavours to create visceral storytelling experiences through her craft. Bianca graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Production - Design Realisation) in 2019.
Bianca’s design credits include Red (Little Life Productions), Tarzan (JTC), What’s Yours (Red Stitch), En Masse (Rawcus), One Day in September (Perryman Theatre Company), Suessical (OCPAC), Guys and Dolls, Passing Strange (Antipodes Theatre Company), TakeBack! (Multicultural Arts Victoria), Ngarngk: Giver of Life (La Mama/YIRRAMBOI Festival); Fucking A, Mad Forest (VCA), L’Oréal For Women in Science and Kenworth's Legacy (Moo Motion), Associate Designer on Mother Play, Assistant Designer on West Gate and Streetcar Named Desire (Melbourne Theatre Company) and Costume Assistant on Interior (Rawcus).
Bianca was awarded the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship in 2018 and was nominated for Green Room Awards for her Tarzan and Guys and Dolls design. Throughout 2024, she completed the Besen Family Artist Program at the Malthouse Theatre with placements on The Hate Race and Fuck Christmas. Bianca was delighted to be a part of the inaugural Future Creatives Program at the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2024 and 2025.
Image Darren Gill / Rawcus
LA MAMA PRESENTS Spare a Thought for Jana Wendt
Season now extended to 30 April 2026!
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