Bringing Oz to Life
When audiences step into The Wizard of Oz at Theatre by the Lake this Christmas, they’re stepping into a world crafted by award-winning designer Yoav Segal. Fresh from the show’s opening night, Yoav spoke with us about the ideas, inspirations and sheer imagination behind the production… all while surrounded by a sea of costumes, fabrics and the familiar buzz of tech week chaos.
A Concept Rooted in Keswick… and Dorothy’s Heart
Asked to sum up his design concept in a single sentence, Yoav laughs. “The design celebrates Keswick and Dorothy’s journey from wanting to escape home to discovering the beauty of family, nature, and this whole landscape.”
At its core, the visual world of this production blends Keswick’s mountains, trees and changing skies with a playful, theatrical flexibility. Rather than fixed backdrops, the set is built from elements that can become many things: a glowing sun or moon, a horizon that shifts from magical to menacing, and a floor that transforms into the yellow-brick road. It’s a world designed to feel fluid, imaginative, and very much alive.
“It’s a green-book way of working,” Yoav explains. “Everything has multiple lives. It can look beautiful, eerie, playful… It means we can create hundreds of looks from a few bold ingredients.”
A Wizard for the Digital Age
This production takes one strikingly contemporary twist: the Wizard himself.
Yoav describes him as “the kind of person teenagers find online when they’re fed up with home… those screens full of people promising courage, intelligence or confidence, but really spinning misinformation.” The Wizard becomes a heightened echo of online influencers, charismatic, persuasive, and ultimately hollow.
It’s a playful touch, but one with a gentle warning woven through it. “When young people wander off into the digital world, there are plenty of Wizards of Oz out there.”
Keswick as Muse
For Yoav, designing with a sense of place is essential. “I’m a big fan of setting things locally,” he says. The production leans into Keswick’s textures and materials, from pink-and-purple flecked brickwork to rooftops inspired directly by the town.
“I photographed the mountains this morning,” he adds. “They look identical to the ones on stage. Being that specific is joyful. People feel seen… they connect more deeply with the work.”
Costumes with Character
Every character’s costume carries a fresh twist:
Dorothy bursts with colour, vivid dungarees, a rainbow-bright jacket, badges and giant Afro puffs. “She’s youthful rebellion, but joyful,” says Yoav.
Toto appears both as a frayed, scruffy puppet and a hybrid boy-dog “our hardest costume, but it’s turned out wonderfully.”
The Munchkins sit somewhere between clowns and 1970s funk musicians, all in blue with playful detailing.
The Scarecrow has a traditional base with a punk-ish edge.
The Tinwoman blends rust, glam and Latin-dance sparkle “tinsel everywhere… she looks very cool.”
The Lion takes inspiration from Rod Stewart, echoing the show’s subtle musical influences.
Emerald City residents are exaggerated, vain aristocrats with Elizabethan ruffs, bustle silhouettes and unapologetically smug attitudes.
The Good Witch appears in a striking poppy-red jumpsuit.
Flying Monkeys become fierce rock-motorbike hybrids, complete with Mohicans.
The Moment He Can’t Wait for Audiences to See
Without hesitation, Yoav names the Witch. “She’s vast — about eight metres wide — a mix of puppetry and performer, and her entrances and exits are wild.” He’s also excited for audiences to experience the movement of the Wizard’s screens and the constantly shifting stage pictures. “It’s always evolving… always surprising.”
The Path to Design
Yoav’s journey into theatre design began early. As a child, he saw The Wind in the Willows at the National Theatre — a production so imaginative and transformative that it never left him. He worked across film, television promos and editing before returning to theatre, eventually completing an MA in Theatre Design with distinction.
Since then, his work has been seen at the National Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, Bristol Old Vic, the Eden Project, Tate Modern, and beyond. His designs for the new musical Cable Street earlier this year won wide acclaim, described as “dazzling” and “especially impressive” by critics.
He’s collaborated on projects ranging from beatbox tours to Sky Arts documentaries narrated by Idris Elba, and his creative career includes social-action campaigns and BAFTA-longlisted work in film. “Theatre has always been where I wanted to be,” he says. “Now, with kids of my own, I see even more how powerful it is, how funny, how creative, how full of possibility.”
A Dream for the Future
When asked about his dream project, Yoav doesn’t hesitate: “Something incredibly ambitious on the Olivier stage… using the drum. Explosive. Huge. Limitless.” He grins. “The drum’s out of action at the moment, but one day…”
