The never-ending debate on whether design and art could co-exist is still going on; mainly in the struggle between the definition of the terminologies in creation, for one focuses on the function of the creative piece of work, while the other the creator’s relationship with the world around him/her. I initiated this conversation with fellow colleague in the Lasalle College of the Arts Edith Podesta on her most recent art-work (I deliberately chose this term against “drama”, “play” and “production”) Eurydice running from 6 to 8 September 2010 in the flexible performance space in the college campus we both worked in. In the lift travelling down to the cafe downstairs, I posited the question, “Using a highly designed theatre space adds aesthetic value to the piece, but it will also draw criticism, with the main charge being “become overly pretentious”. Again, whether the piece of theatre is pretentious or not, lies in the experience it generates for the audience, put aptly by director Edith Podesta: audience experience should go back to the days of Shakespearean theatre where they should be moved by what they are seeing on stage, where the human experience is at its full.
