New Jibla
A Kuwaiti family on Mars.
New Jibla was a satirical theatre production imagining a future where humanity has left Earth behind, but its old habits have come along for the ride.
At 59 Studio, I led the video design and art direction, working closely with the stage designer to turn the script into a flexible visual world that could shift between home, spacecraft and Mars.
ROLE
Video Design & Art Direction
CREATED AT
59 Studio
FORMAT
Theatre / Spatial Media
LOCATION
Kuwait City, Kuwait
One set, many worlds
The stage needed to transform constantly while still feeling like one coherent world.
Working closely with the stage designer, we developed a flexible environment that could become a living room, spacecraft or space station. Projection mapping, integrated LED strips, lighting and switchable glass were treated as one visual system, changing place, atmosphere and scale without continually rebuilding the stage.
Playful science fiction
Because the show was a comedy, the visual language didn’t need to take science fiction too seriously.
We drew on playful references including The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, mixing VHS textures, holographic treatments and deliberately heightened sci-fi imagery. A traditional Kuwaiti dhow was even reimagined as a spacecraft: familiar cultural forms pushed into a very unfamiliar future.
Built in the room
The final design emerged through rehearsal as much as it did on screen.
During two intensive weeks of technical rehearsals in Kuwait, I led a small animation team while working cue-to-cue with stage, lighting, sound and the director, testing sequences, responding to notes and adapting the work as the production came together.
In theatre, the image is never isolated. It has to work with everything happening around it.
Project credits
Video Design & Art Direction: Max Italiaander at 59 Studio
In collaboration with Scenemakers Co.
Written by Saud Al-Sanousi and directed by Julian Webber.
Presented at Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre, Kuwait.
Production images courtesy of 59 Studio.