Photographs Alex Brenner
Writer: Beth Flintoff
Director: Hal Chambers
Designer: Sarah Jane Booth
Lighting Design: Michael Brenkley
Costume Supervisor: Evelien Coleman
“The play is a visual and physical banquet while the comedy lightens the carnage and cruelty. Costume designer Sarah Jane Booth has created a clever chameleon stage which is a cross between a battlefield, a castle, a shipwreck and a skateboard park. The muted colours of the stage look like a decayed rainbow and work organically against the decayed walls of the Abbey Ruins.
The costumes are a magnificent highlight of the play, effectively transporting us in style to Medieval England with sumptuous cloth in gold, red, orange and green. The leads flaunt court dress and symbolism and the flamboyance of the age with exaggerated fluttering sleeves, glittering kingly robes and emerald gowns clashed with modern tights for colourful hose and trainers to give an accessible 21st-century edge to the production”
Alison Jayne Reid, The luminaries Magazine
“The show is very well dressed using some well-chosen regal leggings, great tunics, sweeping trains that clearly distinguish both status and the character's personality and amusing curly shoes. “
Nick Wayne, Pocket Sized Theatre
“Many of the costumes by Sarah Jane Booth are a lush riot of satin and velvet and her spare set suits the full-on and physical drama to a tee.”
David Woodward, Spy in the Stalls
“We sat on pews before a skatepark of a stage (designed by Sarah Jane Booth), streaked with blood red and earthy tones in the holy setting of the St Paul’s Church. The acoustics brought the play to life and the church setting reflected its reverence to an immersive effect.”
Riana Howarth, northwestend.com
“Sarah Jane Booth’s costume work also stands up so well to close scrutiny, some luscious drapery going on but hints of contemporary design adding to the feel of a play speaking to now as much as then.”
There Ought To Be Clowns
“features plenty of pageantry without feeling like historical reconstruction. Against Sarah Jane Booth’s proto-industrial climbing frame set, the cast wear tunics with trainers – all the more comfortable for executing Dani Davies’ nifty swordplay.”
Julia Rank, the Stage
Tete a Tete & Royal College of Music
Britten Theatre
Dir: Bill Bankes-Jones
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Scenic painting: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Ralph Stokeld
Photos by Chris Christodoulou
5 new operas inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein composed and performed by RCM students.
JOE KIELY – AMIRA
Watch as one inventor struggles to outsmart his own creation.
https://youtu.be/azP8sVJJDb4
SOPHIE SPARKES/DEBORAH MCMAHON – OUR PERFECT CHILD
A couple get the opportunity to edit their own embryo, raising some very unsettling questions.
https://youtu.be/4rVI2gHEw7g
MAEVE MCCARTHY/GARY MATTHEWMAN – JOHN HENRY
When modernisation threatens the railway industry, a deadly battle of man versus machine ensues.
https://youtu.be/3wuA_fT0XjE
LENTE VERELST/LENA VERCAUTEREN – BEAR AND FRIENDS
A new invention allows Bear to eat his fill of cake, but leaves a very bitter aftertaste.
(Video currently unavailable)
LARA POE/RAPHAEL RUIZ – THE FERMI PARADOX
Find out what happens when time travel goes horribly wrong.
https://youtu.be/SIYh9iaq1ZI
Tete a Tete & Royal College of Music
Britten Theatre
“Six new operas in one is an ambitious thing, and brilliantly delivered by the Royal College of Music and the Cornwall-based opera production team from Tête à Tête”
***** Colin Clarke, Opera Now
“staging was superb. A kind of candy-floss coloured backdrop for the arcade itself, and a rather hellish looking Newgate Prison for the “rectum examination” – this was the very definition of state buggery. Costumes were superb”
Marc Bridle, Opera Today
Dir: Bill Bankes-Jones
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Jane Booth
Lighting Design: Colin Eversdijk
Projection Design: Sarah Jane Booth
Wardrobe Supervisor: Laura Pearse
WHAM: Brianna Seymour
Photos by Chris Christodoulou
Music and Words:
Airtime
Ed Driver to a libretto by Samir Chadha
Church on the Blood
Jasmine Morris – composer and librettist
Fanny and Stella’s Day Out
Jasper Dommett to a libretto by Jessica Walker
I (Romance)
Alisa Zaika – composer and librettist
The Drifterman
Connie Harris – composer and librettist
The Anthem
Jasper Eaglesfield to a libretto by Harry Davies
Photos (c) Roswitha Chesher
‘quite unlike anything you’re likely to have seen before’….’If the show pulls few punches, its dominant spirit is nevertheless one of optimism, its unshakeable warmth of spirit all-conquering. The crowd was rapt throughout’
Mark Monahan, The Telegraph
Nominated for ‘Community award’ at The Stage Awards 2025
Director : Nancy Hirst
Co- Direction & Choreography : Chloe Dean & Amina Khyyam
Set and Costume Designer: Sarah Booth
Lighting Designer: Callum Macdonald
Projection Designer: Matt Powell
Costume Supervisor: Evelien Coleman
A collaboration betweeen Icon Theatre and Hip Hop dance company ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company with powerful Kathak from Amina Khayyam Dance Company, original live music, and the choral power of a monumental community ensemble.
Ghost Ships explores the waters that connect past with present, borders with belonging, and people with place, looking at the impact of Chatham Dockyard from its involvement in slavery and abolition to the loss and legacy of its 1984 closure and beyond.
Inspired by newly uncovered research from people working at the Dockyard in its final days, Ghost Ships was made with the communities of Chatham and featured an ensemble of over 150 young people, residents and professional dancers performing together live on stage.
The Crowning of Witchy White
Photographs Russell Sachs
Writer & Director: Abbey Wright
Designer: Sarah Jane Booth
Design Assistant: Belle Mundi
Lighting Design: Ollie Corbin
A Halloween show built on a disused netball court in Hythe in collaboration with the local youth club. The aim was to provide a high quality production based on local legends for the local community, on a site which was otherwise associated with anti social behavior.
Arch 468
Unity Liverpool & Albany Theatre
Dir: Rebecca Atkinson- Lord
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Scenic painting: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Katherine Williams
Photos by Alex Beckett
"Sarah Booth’s set exudes a classic Hollywood, rich old lady’s boudoir feel that director Rebecca Atkinson-Lord makes brilliant use of to keep the action moving"
Michelle Olley Phacemag
"Beautifully designed and created, the story takes place in the lavish bedroom and en-suite of the very sick Carolyn."
everything-theatre.co.uk
" beautifully put together (by Sarah Booth) with a clever selection of furniture which kept the set simple but exuding luxury at the same time. It was a sumptuous setting"
Joanna Hinson, Spy in the stalls
"handsomely staged in the Unity’s compact space"
Katherine Jones, The Stage
Words + Music: Jack Ross, Zoë Palmer
Director: Zoë Palmer
Designer: Sarah Booth
Choreography: David Ogle
Producer: Alys Kihl
Orla and The Sun mesmerized audiences from the moment it began, with a warm welcome from the cast, who invited the children to take part from the moment of their arrival, introducing them during the pre-show to chimes, gongs and singing bowls. As The Sun danced, Orla sang her journey and together they created a paradise of silken sun-rays, a forest, bees and a silver pond, all designed for babies to interact with and become part of the action. The show was followed by child-led free play with the audience and cast.
Orla’s Moon: a magical opportunity for babies, infants and their parents to immerse themselves in a sensory moonlit world of dappled light, beautiful music and dance, as Orla goes on a night adventure with her faithful dog Silver leading the way.
The half hour show, performed by our dancer, singer and two musicians, led seamlessly into free play where children explored the props -- shiny hoops, rice-filled balloons, instruments and glittering fragrant ‘berries’ -- and parents enjoyed a relaxed time with their offspring while artists engaged in creative play with the children. As they left, each adult was given a free booklet with follow up activities, and a CD of the songs from the performance.
Audio versions of the stories have now been made available online through Shining Cat, and you can listen at Orla and the Sun / Orla's Moon, or here on Spotify.
The Order of Never Hide
Ray Ban tent @ Bestival
Bad Physics
Dir: Dan Bird
Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Photographs by Matt Hass
Director: Nancy Hirst
Set and Costume Designer: Sarah Booth
Lighting Designer: Dan Terry
Projection Designer: Gino Ricardo Green
Costume Supervisor: Evelien Coleman
The Ballad of St John’s Car Park was a sticky-floored tribute to the positive power of protest and standing up for what we believe in.
With spectacular projection, joyous dance and uplifting community song, The Ballad of St John’s Car Park told a unifying story about moments in Medway’s history that have been transformed by activism, from the protested closure of Chatham Dockyard in 1984 to the Black Lives Matter movement’s 2020 campaign to rename a local car park that commemorated a prominent slave trader.
This brand-new immersive theatre production was created and performed by a company of professional performers alongside 200 people from local communities, and young people.
After the show, the bar and karaoke stayed open for an inclusive community party where the audience performed their own karaoke songs.
Director: Ed Stambollouian
Set Design: James Turner & Sarah Jane Booth
You tube channel Sorted Food’s Big Christmas Bash. Thier first ever live in-person show.
Tete a Tete & Royal College of Music
Britten Theatre
Dir: Bill Bankes-Jones
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Jane Booth
Photos by Chris Christodoulou
Music and Words:
The Three Penelopes: Richie Johnsen/Sam Norman
Growing Wings: Eluned Davies/Alfie Coates
Gilbert Feathers: Michael Hughes/Jack Crowe
Flights: Tymon Zgorzelski/Olga Tokarczuk/Jennifer Croft
Gerstl: Liam Dougherty
My Days as a Zombie on Earth: Darren Sng
six brand-new mini operas created by RCM composers and performed by RCM singers working in association with pathfinding opera company Tête à Tête.
The journey to self-acceptance is one of the great storylines in opera and literature. RCM composers lead us on an odyssey through six vivid operatic worlds, with each unexpected protagonist embarking on the journey of their lifetime – from the metamorphosis of a butterfly to a zombie on a quest to regain his humanity.
Chickenshed Theatre
Dir: Jelena Budimir
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Scenic Painting: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Andrew Caddies
Photo's by Daniel Beacock
Alem Is a 14 year old Eritrean & Ethiopian Refugee navigating his way through the British Asylum system.
Nominated for an Off West End award for best Set Design
"Sarah Booth’s hardworking set design is a triumph, with the centre roundabout becoming a dining table, a children’s play area and the blinding spinning wheels of justice as the scenes require."
Ka Bradley, The Stage
The choice of a playground roundabout as the set’s centrepiece, was a constant and clever reminder of the cyclical nature of refugee crises everywhere.
Laura Sampson, Everything theatre
Cockpit theatre for Tete a Tete festival
Chorus of Curious eyes zoomed in from living rooms around the country.
Concept, Libretto & dir: Tania Holland Williams
Composition: Gavin Alexander, Anna Braithwaite, Kevin Grist
Designer & Costume maker: Sarah Jane Booth
Photos by Claire Shovelton and Sarah Jane Booth
Persephone’s Dream is a digital/live hybrid opera that tells a story of withdrawal from the world. Unpicking the rites of hibernation and exploring whether, in our waking sleep, we can still yearn, struggle, resist – be human.
Through the central figure of a biodegradable Persephone and a 2D virtual chorus of curious eyes, the piece explores the purifying power and danger of isolation. It interrogates the threshold between suspension and action, the real and the imagined and asks if the dream is good – why wake?
With costume, set, and Zoom background design from Sarah Jane Booth, the piece had a fully realized aesthetic.
very thoughtfully done and was the successful culmination of many people coming together to create something that made meaning of our current situation and gave cause for some much-needed sharing and reflection.
Alessia Naccarato - Schmopera.com
Persephone spends most of her time winding and unwinding herself in her remarkable costume, which includes a chess set attached to the front of it. In fact, it’s not so much a costume as a set design. (Kudos to Sarah Jane Booth, in charge of both costume, stage and digital design.)
Dominica Plummer- Spy in the Stalls
Persephone wears a quilted blanket dress which drapes over her lap down to the floor like the softest cloud. Her torso is a chessboard, the squares marking out the belly. These costumes allow for excellent shapes of the body stranded in space.
George Collins- A younger Theatre
I have to mention how much I loved seeing monstrous Cerberus, reduced to a benign soft toy, keeping watch over proceedings, a really nice touch.
Caroline Strong- Actress/poet
The Last Abbot of Reading
by Beth Flintoff
RABBLE Theatre
Reading Abbey
Dir: Jonathan Humphreys
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Photos by Pieter Lawman Photography.
The Last Abbot of Reading tells the story of Hugh Farringdon and his fateful relationship with Henry VIII. Set in the atmospheric Chapter house at Reading Abbey.
“this atmospheric, strongly acted show is a model of theatre rooted in and illuminating its locality.”
Mark Lawson, The Guardian
“Sarah Jane Booth’s beautifully rich costume design and mosaic raised set reflected the period perfectly.”
Robin Strapp, British Theatre Guide
“immersive detail is provided by Sarah Jane Booth’s striking period costumes, which contrast the stiff, lavishly bejewelled fashions of the wealthy with the shapeless monochrome habits of the monks, who find themselves scapegoated by a cynical and hypocritical aristocracy.”
David Fargnoli, The Stage
Tete a Tete opera Festival
2013Tete a Tete opera Festival
Dir: Bill- Bankes Jones
Designer: Sarah Booth
Scenic painting: Sarah Booth
2013-
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/lite-bites-2013/
2014-
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/april-amazon/
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/cakehead/
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/precipitation/
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/precipitation/
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/will-fall/
2015-
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/peoplewatch/
http://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/pop-up-operas/
Photos by Chris Christodoulou
Dir: Bill Bankes-Jones
6 new mini operas all inspired by Dostoyevsky's Crime & Punishment performed together.
BEAM
by Nadine Benjamin & ensemble
Director, co-dramaturg, trauma specialist: Darren Abrahams
Set and Costume design: Sarah Jane Booth
Video Design: Ellie Thompson
A multi-media music theatre piece based on the life story of opera singer Nadine Benjamin, using performance to highlight the many ways that trauma affects a life.
BEAM follows one woman’s journey from fragmentation to wholeness, exploring sexuality; race; gender; neurodiversity – dyspraxia, trauma-tourettes – domestic violence; bullying; addiction, and the role of music and creativity as healing forces in her life.
Team BEAM develops a new inclusive process of co-construction as a working practice and co-creation as an artistic practice.
Arch 468 for the Join the Docks Festival
Director: Rebecca Atkinson Lord
Design: Sarah Jane Booth
Sound Artist: Dominic Kennedy
Five stories to change the way we see our world. Five worlds a little bit different from our own. Find the listening posts around the Royal Docks to discover the audio stories immersed in the landscape. Follow tales across the water as they make and remake the history of the Royal Docks. Available as a walking trail and virtual experience from 14th December 2020
Five new operas composed by Josephine Stephenson, Algirdas Kraunaitis, Lewis Murphy, Hunter Coblentz and Edwin Hillier
Tete a Tete
Britten Theatre
Royal College of Music
Director: Bill Bankes Jones
Set and Costume Designer: Sarah Booth
Scenic painting: Sarah Booth
Jethro Compton LTD
Park Theatre
Dir: Jethro Compton
Set Design: Sarah Booth
Costume Design: Jessica Knight
Lighting Design: Julian McCready
"The battered saloon bar set is great" Tom Porter, Time Out
"The singular set is simplistically rustic but stunningly effective – not once do we miss the scene changes a camera lens can bring" Theodora Munroe The Upcoming
"..gloriously authentic and without a hint of kitsch" Johnathan Baz reviews
Minack Theatre in association with Tete a Tete
Music: David Bruce
Words: Glyn Maxwell
Based on the novel by Philip Pullman
Director: Bill Bankes-Jones
Musical Director: Patrick Bailey
Designer: Sarah Booth
shot at Brighton Studio’s for Gleam Futures
Photos by: Linda Blacker
Set & Props : Sarah Booth
Scenic Painting: Cecil Hayter.
Calendar recreating some of Zoe & Joe’s favourite childhood pictures for the Sugg life range 2017.
Icon Theatre
Brook Theatre, Chatham
Dir: Aidan Dooley
Set Design & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Wardrobe Supervisor: Evelien Coleman
Photos by Simon Kelsey
By Leah Lowry-Johns
Pleasance Theatre, London
Dir: Eduard Lewis
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Alistair Borland
By Zoe Palmer
Ovalhouse
Other stories from 1914 commission
Dir: Rebecca Atkinson-Lord
Designer: Sarah Booth
Icon Theatre, Play on Words, Loop dance
Brook Theatre, Icon Theatre, Play on words, Loop dance
Brook Theatre, Chatham
Dir: Nancy Hirst
Set and Costume design: Sarah Booth
Scenic painting: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Neil michaelides
Photographs by praxis
By Will Close and Joe von Malachowski
Filmed for Arch 468
Director: Rebecca Atkinson Lord
Costume design and Making: Sarah Jane Booth
By Beth Flintoff
Attic Theatre Company
Wimbledon Library and libraries tour
Dir: Jonathan Humphreys
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Photos by Jon Holloway
‘brought the historical narrative into the present: photos taken on phones, …. and one cast member in a T-shirt emblazoned “Same shit, different century.”
Jen Tombs SWLondoner online
By Joel Horwood
Rose Theatre Kingston
and Bad Physics
for RHS Wisley
Dir: Dan Bird
Set and Costumes: Sarah Booth
The Tanneries
The Field Agency
The Tanneries London Bridge
Set design & Dressing: Sarah Booth
By Maurice Ravel & Miguel Kertsmann
Iris Theatre
St Paul's Church, Covent Garden
Dir: Alexander Medem
Set and Costumes: Sarah Booth
Secondhand Dance
Unicorn theatre and UK tour
Choreographer: Rosie Heafford
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Sarah Gilmartin
Photographs by Zoe Manders
‘I thought it was great and the set was beautiful. I loved the audience participation and the gentle way in which they engaged people. I laughed out loud a lot, it was educational and I know a lot more about different creepy crawlies than I did before.’
Lerato Dunn, Bristol City Counci
Paulden Hall Productions
Southwark Playhouse
Dir: Anthony Lau
Costume Designer: Sarah Booth
Set Designer: James Turner
"Even minus the singing and suspenders this starry show knocks spots off 70s glitzfest, Cabaret. And I do not say that lightly. Fringe or West End – it does not matter when it’s this good. "
Natasha Hotson, Islington Gazette
Icon Theatre
Brook Theatre Chatham
Dir: Nancy Hirst
Set Design & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
"we progress through the wood (twigs, ribbons and leaves – well done, Sarah Booth) into the softly lit forest. Abrasive badgers, an ethereal tree fairy and an increasingly less timid hedgehog help us gently and quietly to do what is necessary to release Christmas from the spell it is under. I doubt I was the only adult present to shed a quiet tear at the bells and magic at the end."
The Stage
Icon Theatre
Brook Theatre, Chatham
Dir: Nancy Hirst
Set Design & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Photos by Simon Kelsey
by Nancy Hirst
Icon Theatre
Fort Luton, Chatham
Dir: Nancy Hirst
Set & Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Photos: Simon Kelsey
A promenade performance event at Fort Luton – Chatham’s extraordinary Victorian land fort. Spanning over 150 years of local history, ‘The Silk of 1000 Spiders’ was inspired by the true stories of the invisible labour force who have shaped our landscape and lives. From the sailors, convicts and workhouse inmates who helped build Fort Luton, to today’s migrant workers, ‘The Silk of 1000 Spiders’ explored and brought to light Medway’s untold stories and forgotten lives. The show involved a professional cast, the river chorus choir, a children’s choir, Youth theatre and Community cast.
By Alan Franks
Theatre 503, The Latchmere
Dir: Sally Knyvette
Set and Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Lighting Design: Dan Saggars
"The set was evocative of student living in 1968...Scene changes, done by the cast, were seamless with a particularly clever method of demonstrating lecturer Mayhew’s office. I enjoyed the little touches on the set and noticing similarities with my own student houses, including a bookcase equally stocked with wine bottles as with books!"
Everything Theatre
