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Jayne's Interviews

Jayne Kerr, The Travel Adventure

I have the great fortune to have Tim Hatley as my next-door neighbor. Who is Tim? Well, about the best Production Designer there is. Currently you can see his set designs on stage in "Shrek the Musical" and "Betty Blue Eyes". Please note that it was a great pleasure to interview a 6 foot something, lean good looking guy brimming with energy and enthusiasm! I must stop enjoying myself.

Hatley was educated at Bearwood College, Berkshire and trained in Theatre Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London from 1986 to 1989. He has designed for Theatre de Complicite, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, the West End, and Broadway. He has done the costumes and/or scenic design for seven Broadway productions, both musicals and dramas, starting with Stanley in 1997 through Shrek the Musical in 2008. For Shrek he also designed the puppets. The Variety Seattle review noted: "Set and costume designer Tim Hatley ("Monty Python’s Spamalot") has created a wonderland of swamps, forests and castles populated by colorful fairy-tale creatures and puppets great and small."

Jayne
Tim, when did you interest in Production Design begin?

Tim
My father was in the RAF so I attended many schools ending in a boarding school where there was a fantastic Art teacher called Bill. Up until then I hadn't pursued any art lessons, let alone exams! Bill also had a passion for the theatre and set designs - he encourage me to sit my GCSE O and A levels in Art - and then the harder job of persuading my parents let me go to College and pursue Art and the Theatre. Not a mean feat but Bill won. The rest is history. I graduated with First Class Honors from Central St Martins School of Art & Design.

Jayne
So do you just follow that course and after it look to work for a company?

Tim
No, it doesn't work like that. Production Designers are individuals, whilst in College many would call and ask for students to help them with a big set. Of course, all hands went up and it gave us that practical experience. On leaving, a student aligns to an individual Production Designer. I was lucky enough to work with Jocelyn Herbert, although elderly, she has masses of energy which permeated everyone around her. She was so influential in set design, as prior to her the trend was for sumptuous sets that recreated a room/place rather than a mood or atmosphere. Her tryptic working methods brought the designer, directors and authors of plays and productions closer together.

Jayne
Your accolades are too many to mention, 2 Tony Awards, Oliver Award, Design Week awards... what was it like at the Tony Awards?

Tim
Well I received the awards for "Private Lives" and "Spamalot" - they're great evenings when you win something but very flat when you don't! These awards are THE "Theatre's Oscars" - to walk down the red carpet AND win is a tremendous feeling.

Jayne
So a producer, say Cameron Mackintosh approaches you to design a set, where do you begin? (This is where Tim takes on an animation all of his own!)

Tim
Each production is a challenge and can only be achieved with my brilliant team on board. It's a bit like riding a horse, you have to sit on it, feel it, mould yourself into that being, relax and enjoy it! I imagine what I want to achieve, for example with Private Lives I saw white, white, white. The ideas just came including a dual set - a multi tiered wedding cake hotel that seems to topple! Once I have the ideas, I then set about making a scale model of the set and how I want it to work. At this point I turn to my trusted team to help me with the technology of working it all.

Jayne
So we all love Betty - how hard was it to get that pig!

Tim
At first Cameron Mackintosh wanted a real pig! Well you wouldn't believe the problems and cost! We would have had to have 2 pigs - one on stage and one in the wings - as a pig will only move towards another pig. Did you know pigs won't climb stairs? (Not something I come across every day Tim, no) - so we would have had to install a special "pig lift"! In the end I had to make the best pig ever! I knew the guys who produced the animatronics for the BBC's "Walking with Dinosaurs", they were very busy but one of their team in Australia could help. I sent the sketches, what I wanted the pig to do etc. They created exactly what I wanted - even down to each hair is weaved individually just like a wig!

Jayne
Let's talk about Shrek? London will be the 4th Shrek Set Design you've done?

Tim
Yes. Seattle was first, then on to Broadway, then when it was decided to go on Tour, I had to re design the whole thing to make it lighter in terms of transporting it, and now of course London. This for me, was the biggest challenge for Shrek as the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is such a beautiful Theatre - the pressure was on simply not to let the Theatre down! It needed a fresh look so I took the touring version of the set and just added magic! Again - I had to resort to some animatronics for the dragon and could see in my mind's eye how I wanted the costumes to look. Sometimes I want costumes to do something and can't work out how to achieve that, again, this is where the Team comes in and I enlist the help of a fantastic costume designer - she solves the problems and the set comes together.

Jayne
Your greatest challenge?

Tim
"The 3 lives of Lucie Cabrol"! I had to create a set where the roof fell in and not kill the actors on stage. In the end I used joined rafters, there were lots of teething problems, but it worked and the show was a smash hit!

Jayne
And your favourite?

Tim
Working with Theatre Complicite. It's interesting work, enjoyed by the young, very physical and thought provoking for the young of today.

Jayne
So is it just Theatre Design?

Tim
Oh No! It can be film sets, dance sets - I won a Design Award for my Vivienne Westwood Exhibition Design.

Jayne
So in films, you've worked with very famous people, who is your favourite?

Tim
Well, I don't really have a favourite (some thought here) - but I was so impressed by the beauty of Julia Roberts when I did the set design for the film "Closer"

Jayne
I could sit here for hours so let's just ask some questions about you. What's your favourite destination?

Tim
Undoubtedly South Africa. I have a house there and go as often as I can. There is no place for me with the energy which abounds there, a place that wants to change and wants to create. There are wonderful artists there and each time I go I like to catch up on new art. Coupled with I love safaris too.

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