Tom Scutt: Design is often underestimated by critics

Designer Tom Scutt has claimed theatre design is “underestimated” by critics, claiming intelligent reviews are needed to help those working in his field develop their craft.

He has also called for theatres to provide more financial support to enable designers to consider sustainability.

Scutt said “theatre design in general is often underestimated” by reviewers.

“Until you are made more aware of your process, how can you evolve? So you want people to write intelligently about the things you are putting on stage in order for you to be able to grow and learn from that,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s about simply noticing the design, it’s about what value [is attributed] to the design, because we are in a world now where our visual stimuli is so much more advanced that people need to start being able to read designs for their meaning through the visuals and what’s underneath that.”

The comments were made at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards, where he won the best designer category for A Very Expensive Poison at the Old Vic in London.

Scutt told The Stage that theatres need to find a way to support designers financially to incorporate sustainability into design.

“[Incorporating sustainability into design] is about the rigour of thought and the concept, and that means more time to commit to giving that thought and more team time together, and I think theatres need to financially find a way to support that,” he said.

Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2020: the winners in full