Glorious!
Directed by Kirk Jameson
Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Writer - Peter Quilter
Director - Kirk Jameson
Musical Supervision - Nick Barstow
Scenographer & Costume Designer - Ingrid Hu
Lighting Designer - Mike Robertson
Sound Designer - Mark Goggins
Wig Designer - Helen Keane
Costume supervisor - Lorraine Parry
Italian translation & dialect coach - Judith Blazer
CAST
FLORENCE - Wendi Peters
COSMÉ - Charlie Hiscock
MARIA/DOROTHY/MRS VERRIDER-GEDGE - Anita Booth
Photography by Cian O’Riain
Set in 1940s New York, Glorious! follows Florence, a wealthy socialite with a dream of operatic stardom. Despite a complete lack of vocal skill, her exuberant and wildly off-key performances earn her a devoted following—culminating in a concert of a lifetime at Carnegie Hall.
Starring Wendy Peters (Coronation Street, ITV; Hetty Feather, CBBC), this witty and uplifting show charts the unlikely rise of a woman whose passion for music far outweighed her ability to sing in tune.
At the heart of the story is her relationship with pianist Cosme McMoon, played by Charlie Hiscock (Ted Lasso, Apple TV+), who finds himself caught between admiration, frustration and reluctant loyalty as he helps bring her vision to life.
★★★★
‘Ingrid Hu’s design is seriously impressive. Jenkins’ period apartment, complete with vintage furniture and opera posters on flock wallpaper, is transformed effortlessly into a bare recording studio.’ (North West End Theatre)
★★★★
‘Ingrid Hu’s settings and costumes are simply but exquisitely done and are very evocative of the 1940s era.’ (Musical Theatre Review)
★★★★
‘Ingrid Hu’s set, which – unusually for Hope Mill Theatre – includes a front-of-house curtain, is handsome and quite formal, which suits the structure of Quilter’s play as the action is divided into four distinct scenes building up to Foster Jenkins’ triumphant final concert.’ (The Stage)
‘Unusually for Hope Mill each scene is separated by the closure of a theatre curtain. The gradual unveiling allows the audience to appreciate fully the sophistication of Ingrid Hu’s stage set. Moving from a discreet sitting room and recording studio to a very impressive silk-screened recital area.’ (The Reviews Hub)
‘Ingrid Hu’s costume design was fantastic. Timely, glamorous and believable. This, together with the set design, brought the audience into the 1940s.’ (All That Dazzles)
Now, I See
conceived and directed by Lanre Malaolu
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Writer/Director/Movement Director - Lanre Malaolu
Composer - Jan Brzezinski
Scenographer - Ingrid Hu
Costume Designer - Debbie Duru
Lighting Designer - Ryan Day
Sound Designer - Pär Carlsson
Associate Director - Kirk-Ann Roberts
Assistant Choreographer - Rochea Dyer
Production Dramaturg - Roy Alexander Weise
Dramaturg - Anthony Simpson-Pike
Artist Collaboration - Joseph Ijoyemi
CAST
KIERON / Oliver Alvin-Wilson
DAYO / Nnabiko Ejimofor
ADEYEYE / Tendai Humphrey Sitima
Photography by Camilla Greenwell
Two brothers reunite to honour their sibling's life at a celebration of remembrance. As they begin to explore letting go, they are forced to confront their shared past and long-standing estrangement.
Following the sell-out run of SAMSKARA (The Yard), this brand-new work by Lanre Malaolu explores the challenge of forgiving yourself for a lifetime of suppressed emotion, while celebrating the profound bond of brotherhood and the resilience that can be found in joy.
The scenography for the production is inspired by the motif of water in the writing and the emphasis of giving space to the actors and lighting. The quality of water, rather than its aesthetics, is interpreted through numerous strands of black fabric stretching across the space and extending from the depth of the stage to the front of the proscenium. Completely invisible at times, these fabric strips help to create a fluid and ethereal space under lighting. A glass casket filled with water as well as simple furniture and fluorescent lights complement this abstract visual language.
Nominated for 2025 Olivier Award for best new production in affiliate theatre.
★★★★
‘A coffin-like box filled with water sits on one side of the stage but is central to Ingrid Hu’s scenography – an unsettling image with hints of purification. Water as a whole is key and comes to seem baptismal.’ (The Guardian)
★★★★
‘Malaolu’s choreography is muscular and exquisitely expressive, complementing the text with joyous dance breaks and sudden snaps into sinuous, slow-motion flailing. Ingrid Hu’s spare set allows plenty of space for all the dramatic movement, and provides a striking focal point with a water-filled glass casket. Occasionally, performers dip their arms inside, bringing up fistfuls of liquid that pours between their fingers or splashes over the stage, creating graceful arcs under Ryan Day’s nimble lights.’ (The Stage)
★★★★
‘Malaolu’s movement expresses emotion – joy, pain, relief – where words fail; enhancing the drama, rather than distracting. Set and staging further complement the movement with a recurring rippling motif extending from drapery across the proscenium arch through to water filling a perspex coffin ever present downstage.’ (The Spy in the Stalls)
Something In The Air (Es Liegt Was In Der Luft)
directed by Sue Buckmaster
Theatre Rites and Schauspielhaus Bochum
Director - Sue Buckmaster
Collaborating designer - Ingrid Hu
Composer - Jessica Dannheisser
Sound Design - Ed Lewis
Puppet Designer & Maker - Naomi Oppenheim
Associate Director - Zoë Grain
CAST
Abenaa Prempeh / Performer
Markus Schabbing / Puppeteer
William Bartley Cooper / Performer
Photography by Brigit Hupfeld
We are all made of air. The whole world is made of air. We are not so separate.
So, take a deep breath and enjoy this new production. You will see air with different eyes. Can we see it at all? Can we capture air? How can we protect it?
Breathe out and find out.
Something In The Air is a site-specific, family performance for children aged 4 to 8. Working as a collaborating designer on development of this devised performance alongside director Sue Buckmaster, the design process started with exploring air as a material and our relationship with it. Air in its multifaceted presence in our daily life is weaved into a narrative fusing puppetry, object manipulation, costume and set design.
Material experimentation and making is an integral part of the design process. For this project, a key decision is made early on not to use PVC - a common material used in inflatables which is toxic. This leads to the use of TPU, a recyclable thermoplastic that has been mainly used in packcraft and water sports equipment. A range of inflatable ‘plants’ - including both fan-powered inflatables as well as air-filled TPU inflatables - are integrated into the overall scenography.
The costume design features a concertina-like ‘pump’ attached to different parts of the body to externalise the idea of a breathing organ worn by the three Air Keepers. Made from folded paper and fabric, these body pumps are connected to the costume using magnets and can be taken out as standalone objects.
Something In The Air is performed at the Schauspielhaus’ new theatre space Theaterrevier, which is dedicated to presenting work for children and young people.
Song From Far Away
by Simon Stephens and Mark Eitzel
HOME Manchester & Hampstead Theatre, London 2023
Director - Kirk Jameson
Designer - Ingrid Hu
Lighting Designer - Jane Lalljee (HOME), Andrew Exeter (Hampstead)
Composer, Musical Supervisor and Arranger - Paul Schofield
Sound Designer - Julian Starr
CAST
Willem - Will Young
Photography by Chris Payne (HOME), Mark Senior (Hampstead)
Produced by Thomas Hopkins, Guy Chapman & HOME in association with John Rogerson, Michael Quinn & WYSCH Productions
Song From Far Away is an unforgettable story and a personal letter to those left behind.
One crisp winter day in New York, Willem receives a phone call – it’s time to go home. Home to Amsterdam – to estranged family and forgotten relationships. As he reflects on his life, unwilling to face the future, he finds himself reaching out to the brother he lost.
Starring multi award-winning singer/songwriter and actor Will Young, this powerful show is his first live theatre role for a decade.
★★★★ “Gentle, truthful, immensely touching” – Financial Times (Hampstead Theatre)
★★★★ "It is a beautiful, meditative performance, directed with care by Jameson, and made all the more poignant given that Young lost his twin brother in 2020. Ingrid Hu’s design offers fleeting moments of drama – a snow flurry, the lights and drifting smoke of fireworks, an oppressively lowering ceiling – but never detracts from Young, magnetically pacing his gilded cage." – The Stage (Hampstead Theatre)
★★★★ "Will Young acts with melodic grace in poignant monologue" - The Guardian (HOME Manchester)
★★★★ "Song from Far Away is supported by exceptional staging and Kirk Jameson’s creative direction. The shifting cinematic ceiling lowers and rises to imitate the simultaneous claustrophobia and expansive loneliness of grief, whilst a glimpse of snowfall in the darkness beyond the penthouse window provides a sublime moment of impressive scale."- Manchester Evening News (HOME Manchester)
In The Net
by Misha Levkov
Jermyn Street Theatre, London
Director - Vicky Moran
Designer - Ingrid Hu
Lighting Designer - Jonathan Chan
Composer & Sound Designer - Matt Eaton
Video Designer - Daniel Denton
Performers
Laura - Carlie Diamond
Hala - Suzanne Ahmet
Anna - Anya Murphy
Immigration officer/Councillor/Estate Agent - Tony Bell
Harry - Hywel Simons
Photography by Steve Gregson
“Sometimes you surprise people into being better than they are.”
Laura and Anna, half-sisters, plan a grand net stretching across the skyline of North London as a way to unite their community. But not everyone’s convinced. Meanwhile Hala, a Syrian refugee staying with the family, finds herself caught in a tangle of immigration red tape. With time running out, drought spreading, and the authorities closing in, the net becomes their arena in the pursuit of justice, joy and safety.
Misha Levkov’s stunning debut interweaves the lives of the three women as delicately as the web they weave on stage. Family, protest, and the joy of defiance meet in this thrilling production, directed by Vicky Moran. In the Net follows WoLab’s critically acclaimed productions For A Palestinian, ENG-ER-LAND and RAINER.
No Particular Order
by Joel Tan
Theatre503, London
Director - Josh Roche
Designer - Ingrid Hu
Lighting Designer - Clare O'Donoghue
Composer & Sound Designer - Sarah Sayeed
Video Designers - Erin Guan & Isabel Sun
Associate sound designer - Rachael Murray
Sound technician - Sylvia Wan
Producer - Mingyu Lin & Iskandar R. bin Sharazuddin
Theatre503 and Ellandar Productions
Performers
1. - Daniel York Loh
2. - Pandora Colin
3. - Jules Chan
4. - Pía Laborde-Noguez
Photography by Lidia Crisafulli
A despot has come to power. The society is listless, submissive and scared.
But beneath every violation of civil autonomy, there are humans, behind every resistance to power, there are individuals. And these people are not different to us but identical, they are not heroic or remarkable, but ordinary.
Through the lives of ornithologists, bureaucrats, soldiers and tour guides, No Particular Order charts the fall, rise and continuation of a single society, asking the same repeated question “Is it empathy, or power, that endures?”
No Particular Order is the startling debut play from 503Five alumnus Joel Tan and was shortlisted in the 2018 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award.
"One thing that stuck out was the undercurrent of birds. The ceiling was shrouded in fabric and filled with feathers, these feathers fell to the ground as they jumped scenes and were symbols of plants, but also seemingly people – moving around, unchanging, always present." - SW Londoner
Athena
by Gracie Gardner
The Yard Theatre
Director - Grace Gummer
Designer - Ingrid Hu
Fight Director - Claire Llewellyn
Lighting Designer - Marty Langthorne
Composer & Sound Designer - Esther Kehinde Ajayi
Movement Director - Yami Lofvenberg
Voice Coach - Rachel Coffey
Assistant Director - Amber Evans
Casting Director - Naomi Downham
Original composition of 'Netch' by Miguel Fernandes + Louise Scheuer
Performers
Athena - Milliicent Wong
Mary Wallis - Gracie Saif
Jamie - Amaia Naima Aguinaga
Photography by Ali Wright
In a New York City fencing club two warriors are ready to battle.
Athena and Mary Wallace are training for the Junior Olympics. They practice together. They compete against each other. They spend their lives together. They wish they were friends.
From Award-winning playwright Gracie Gardner, following an acclaimed extended run in New York, comes a fierce coming of age comedy where two teenagers parry class, competition and power as they practice fencing and life. But only one will win – en garde.
Directed by the first recipient of the National Theatre Women of Tomorrow Director’s Award Grace Gummer.
"deeply funny" (Exuent) "sabre-sharp" (Time Out)
★★★★ "Enthralling"
“Aided by Ingrid Hu’s engrossing blue-and grey piste set, complete with netted curtains and metallic flooring, and Esther Kehinde Ajayi’s constant, tension-building soundscape, it is clear, that ultimately, only one will be victorious.” (The Stage)
★★★★ "Impressive" (The Independent)
★★★★★ "Exhilarating"
“Ingrid Hu and Marty Langthorne conjure a fencing club, a teenage bedroom, a nightclub with lighting alone. Noset changes here: only speed-of-light transformations from there to here, keeping up with the velocity of the swinging blade.” (Londontheatre1)
Curiouser
Norway and UK tour
Performers - Gerd Elin Aase (dybwikdans), Luke Birch (Flexer & Sandiland), understudy Marie Ronold Mathisen (dybwikdans)
Choreographers - Siri Dybwik, Yael Flexer
Digital artist - Nic Sandiland
Animator - Per Dybvig
Composer and Dramaturg - Nils Christian Fossdal
Set designer - Ingrid Hu
Costume designers - Siri Dybwik and Ingrid Hu
Lighting design/production management - Natalie Rowland
Photography by Morten Berentsen
2018
RAS Sandnes Kulturhus, Norway
Varen Randaberg Kulturscene, Norway
The Lowry Salford
Ideas Test at GlassBox Theatre, Gillingham
The Place Theatre, London
Brighton Festival
A digital dance show for ages 3-6 by Flexer & Sandiland in collaboration with Norwegian company dybwikdans.
Guided by two friendly dance-performers, adults and children delve into magical caves, explore leafy forests, soar through starry night skies, and meet playful characters; loosely inspired by the children’s classic Alice in Wonderland.
This is an interactive dance performance where audiences can choose to sit back and watch or get up and get involved. The performance incorporates animated hand-drawn projection, dance, sound, text and interactive digital objects, creating an intimate yet spectacular experience.
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
David MacK. Murray Studio, Dalhousie University, Canada
By Shakespeare
Directed by Jure Gantar
February, 2003.
A modernised version of Troilus and Cressida set against World War I. The surreal atmosphere is inspired by Derek Jarman’s films as well as war poems of the time. The audience sit along two long sides of the studio theatre space, watching the show through two opposite perspectives. A layer of ‘cloud’ delineates mortals and immortals, blurring the boundary at times through a series of transformations - from Helen of Troy’s wedding gown to Greek and Trojan camps - made possible by 16 pulley points above operated by the crew.
THEATRE OF THE VISCERA
La Nef Manufacture d’utopies, Paris, France
Devised by Dominique Baron-bonarjee (concept, research, and movement)
Puppetry – Matt Jackson
Scenography – Ingrid Hu
Photography by Duncan Wylie
September, 2010.
Produced by La Nef Manufacture d’utopies, as part of an artist residency, this buton performance is inspired by Antonin Artaud’s concept of ‘body without organs’ and a story about organ transplant. Using La Nef’s former brick factory space as a base, the scenography involves a series of elastic and moveable draperies hoisted in the space, allowing the performers to experiment with objects and movements, and transform the interior landscape of the space through this interaction. The result is an installation performance incorporating butoh dance, puppetry, and live music.
ELECTRA
David MacK. Murray Studio, Dalhouse University, Canada
By Sophocles
Director – Jure Gantar
A modern adaptation of the Greek tragedy set in an unknown refugee camp where detainees were separated by their gender.
Audience entered the space through a gallery on the upper level of the studio theatre. Photos depicting lives of the refugees before they went into exile were displayed. Audience then descended to find themselves walking between the male and female camps. They sat in between the two camps, watching the drama unfold around them.
The scenography contributed to the theatrical tension by introducing proximity between the audience and the performers. A concrete floor was poured in-situ filling the performance area in the middle, surrounded by floor to ceiling metal fencing, creating realism through materiality, sound, texture, and dust.
ON THE CUSP
FreedM Studio, Roundhouse / Rich Mix Studio Two, London
Directed by Gillian Foley and David Lockwood
Photography by Tony Rizzo
First shown on 10-11 August, 2009, as part of the Camden Fringe Festiveal at Roundhouse FreedM Studio, London.
Rich Mix Studio Two, London. February, 2010.
On the Cusp was a solo performance conceived, written and performed by Adi Lerer.
It is a fantastical journey of the performer discovering how she perceives the one she is in conflict with. As an Israeli and a new British citizen, the show reveals aspects of her background and current state. It explores her persistent longing and need to meet her female counterpart, and what she represents; investigating personal and collective fears and hopes.
The design started with a simple scenographic idea: an object that could be manipulated by the performer throughout the performance to respond to the narrative. The design process and the performance evolved in parallel, with the ‘object’ playing an active role in shaping the story, the character, and the physical performance. The final design was a structure made of double layered fabric, crinoline and spandex netting, suspended on a pulley system with four ropes, which suggested at different times a basket of oranges, a boat, a dress, a shelter, as well as more emotional and psychological aspects of the piece.
ZERAFFA GIRAFFA
An Omnibus Theatre and Little Angel Theatre co-production
A play by Sabrina Mahfouz
Based on the book by Dianne Hofmeyr and illustrated by Jane Ray
Director – Elgiva Field
Puppets and Puppetry – Matthew Hutchinson
Set and Costume Designer – Ingrid Hu
Composer – Candida Caldicot
Lighting Designer – Oscar Wyatt
Sound Designer – Jon McCleod
Cast – Ashton Owen, Andre Refig, Nadia Shash
Photography by Ellie Kurttz
21 September – 4 November, 2017 Little Angel Theatre, London
25 Nov – 17 Dec, 2017 Omnibus Theatre, London
Production for Young People aged 0-7
Based on the book by award-winning children’s author Dianne Hofmeyr, Zeraffa Giraffa is inspired by the true tale of a giraffe and its keeper Atir. Sent as a diplomatic gift from the Great Pasha of Egypt to the King of France in the 1820s, the story follows the various stages of the epic trip taken by these two companions. The pair are thrown through terrifying storms and encounter all sorts of nerve jangling creatures – and not to mention locals – before they arrive in France where no one has seen an animal like Zeraffa before.
Working in close collaboration with the creative team, the design of the stage and costumes evolved from ideas based around children’s perception of the visual world. Objects, scenery and costumes transform with and by the puppets and performers in unexpected and imaginative ways.
★★★★★ “a delightful production” Theatre Bubble
★★★★ “This is such a creative production with spellbinding surprises galore for the little ones, not to mention the wonderfully mature themes of difference and friendship”
Everything Theatre
★★★★ “interesting insights for all ages to ponder on”
London Theatre 1
Light / Dark
SU-EN Butoh Company, Uppsala Concert and Congress studio, Sweden
Installation performance
Filament LED light bulbs, cables, paper
Choreography - SU-EN
Light installation - Ingrid Hu
Music - Mikael Stavöstrand
Performers - Madeleine Holmund, Heiko Klandt
Photography by Ingrid Hu
We perceive light because we experience darkness. It is never just one or the other.
For over a century, we live as if we no longer rely on daylight. It is a paradox of wanting both. Artificial light presents a physiological dilemma, and more so in a place like Sweden where duration of daylight varies from one extremity to the other.
The installation is a response to this constant power negotiation between light and dark, seen and unseen. An artificial topography of light that evolves and adapts around our changing body. At the centre, a luminous element remains constant, reminding us the physical reality that dictates our natural world. This topography illuminates, in total darkness, and in our mind.
Invited by SU-EN, the collaboration started with a research and development period around light as a material. Using commonly available domestic light bulbs, the process involved dipping light bulbs in paint to reveal the glowing filament and making the glass to be its own light shade.
Produced by SU-EN Butoh Company and Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, Sweden
A Kettle of Fish
24 September – 13 October, 2018 The Yard Theatre, London
Writer - Brad Birch
Director - Caitlin McLeod
Designer - Ingrid Hu
Lighting Designer - Joshua Gadsby
Composer and Sound Designer - Max Pappenheim
Video Designer - Tegid Cartwright
Stage Manager on The Book - Devika Ramcharan
Production Manager - Seb Cannings
Casting Director - Ruth O'Dowd CDG
Assistant Stage Manager - Isobel Eagle-Wilsher
CAST
Lisa - Wendy Kweh
Photography by Helen Murray
She’s on a plane. She’s 30,000 feet in the air. And on the ground, back home, an emergency is unfolding.
Lisa is on her way to a new country for her work. She has spent months learning. She’s read the books, she’s watched the YouTube videos. She knows this business.
But something has happened thousands of feet below, hundreds of miles away. A disaster. A tragedy. Something that prompts her to question what is more important to her; where she has come from? Or where she is going?
Setting the story against a multi-layered visual language involving three symbolic spaces, A Kettle of Fish is a multi-media performance experienced through an immersive and intimate sound design.
