Ep.86: Imogen Ross: Freelance Theatre Designer, Researcher and Maker - “Budget may be a constraint that allows us to be more creative, but sustainability is an opportunity that enables us” (Audio)

Imogen Ross is an Australian freelance theatre designer, researcher and maker whose practice spans over three decades of scenographic work for stage and site-specific performance. 

 

She writes and researches APDGreen Conversations, a national online platform to promote ecological approaches in Australian performance design for the Australian Production Design Guild, and in 2022 was appointed Sustainability Manager at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (N.I.D.A.). There she works closely with course leaders to embed eco-creative sustainable thinking processes and the Theatre Green Book into the curriculum, as well as helping the entire institution achieve its Net Zero de-carbonisation targets.

 

In 2025, Imogen presented her design-led research on SCOBY as a living material for ecoscenography at World Stage Design in Sharjah, UAE, where she also initiated and then hosted the Green Conversation Café - an opportunity for designers and performance makers to sit together and share ideas on the impact of climate change, and greener practices in their work. She has published on scenography, co writing Performance Design in Australia in 2001 with fellow designer Kristen Anderson, as well as contributing to international discourse on Australian performance practices with Dr Tanja Beer, the author of Ecoscenography.

 

She is currently studying at Griffith University, with previous degrees awarded by U.N.E.(Drama and Psychology) and W.A.A.P.A. ( Production Design). Her research and design projects focus on sustainability and material innovation, often incorporating upcycled, found and nature-sourced elements.

 

You can read more about Imogen’s work and research in this recent Arts Hub feature: https://www.artshub.com.au/news/features/from-set-design-to-touring-how-can-we-make-theatre-more-environmentally-sustainable-2851622/

Additional resources and writing on sustainable theatre and filmmaking can also be found via her APDG page: https://apdg.org.au/resources/apdgreen

 

 

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The StageLync Podcast is a branch of our larger StageLync Community. Come visit us at www.stagelync.com

 

Credits for the StageLync Podcast

Hosts: Anna Robb
Editor: Rose Anne Fermocil
Music: Jeremy Willi
Design: Em Holt
Production Coordinator: Roselle Bernardo
Producers: Anna Robb and Andrea Honis