LOREN ELSTEIN
Loren Elstein is a stage and costume designer working in Film, Theatre, Dance and Opera. Move Beyond Words met Loren Elstein sometime ago and have remained starstruck ever since. Loren is a creative force within the arts and continues to collaborate with artists to share her talent within our community and theatres. Lorens current and future projects include Once Upon A One More Time Dir: David Leveaux (Broadway), Hamlet, The Cherry Orchard Dir: Sean Matthias(Royal Theatre Windsor), Migrations Dir: David Poutney (Welsh National Opera), Cheryomushki Dir: Daisy Evans (Welsh National Opera), Enter Achilles Dir: Lloyd Newson (Rambert) and Divided We Fall Dir: Lina Johansson (Mimbre UK Tour).
Loren is an artist who identifies with the label of dyslexia and as a company that advocates for dyslexic artists, we love her story in how she became a powerhouse designer within the arts….
In WWII, Loren’s grandfather, a scenery artist, created an illusion of the city of London in a field in Kent with a barricade of 2D trucks on the beach in Folkstone. Some decades later, she grew up assisting him and her dad in their Blackfriars Scenery workshop on the creation of sets by Mark Fisher and Es Devlin.
Loren completed her Art and Design Foundation Course at Ravensbourne. In 2004, she travelled to North Queensland, Australia to carve her own path. Loren became an underwater photographer, worked on storytelling projects with indigenous communities and designed for immersive live shows in venues such as rainforests, prisons, caves and floating pontoons.
She then trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia where she received the Best Design Award from the Australian Production Design Guild for Loot (Joe Orton) in 2012.
In 2013, Loren returned to London to work as Associate Designer for Anna Fleischle on shows such as Hangmen by Martin McDonagh (Royal Court, West End, NYC), Jamie (West End) and John (DV8, National Theatre)
Loren is currently working with some of the UK’s most exciting established and emerging creators in Theatre and Dance. She has designed costumes, sets and installations for productions at The Park Theatre, The South Bank Centre, The Lyric Hammersmith, The Royal Court, Welsh National Opera, and Rambert.
Here is how Loren answered our signature questions:
How would you describe your relationship to dyslexia in a sentence, word, image or even a dance move?
How does Dyslexia influence your work and/or personal life?
Directions. Impossible, but it has blessed me with stumbling across some great hidden gems when heading in completely the wrong way. Problem is remembering the names of these places to tell others about them.
Reading scripts being an integral part of my job has been a challenge, it does sometimes mean me rereading a script over and over for it to settle but often I've got such a clear feeling of what it needs to be by then. I also scribble and doodle all over it as I read. The essence of which often ends up on stage.
Is there an item that best represents, aids or embraces your dyslexia? If so, can you explain it and share an image of it?
Lists, note books drawings. But most importantly it is always on SCRAP paper. It helps so much to take the pressure off knowing you don't have to be precious with what you are writing.
What advice would you give to your future self?
Don't be afraid to say 'Leave it with me.' The amount of times I have a breakthrough on a project moments after a meeting is over. Don't let other people's timings or process devalue your ideas.