Mon 9 Feb

Designing Lark Rise to Candleford

with Anna Kelsey, Set & Costume Designer.

When Bryn and I began the design process, we knew we wanted to reflect the agricultural past of the UK. Although the original stories are set in North Oxfordshire, it felt right for the setting to speak broadly to the UK countryside as a whole.

First published as a trilogy in 1945, the stories are set at the end of the 19th century.

For a war-weary population, these books offered a reminder of a simpler, easier time—a rose-tinted memory of a pre-war England. The story itself reflects a life that is warm, humbling, and inspiring. Our key task, therefore, was to let Laura’s life breathe on stage. Our storytellers bring her past to life through music, movement, and text, allowing memory and imagination to sit side by side. The set design needed to support this fluidity, enabling her memories to be recreated instantly, then dissolve and morph seamlessly into the next.

We liked the idea that the set design would have an old, worn, sepia quality, echoing the feeling of recollection.

As we journey through Laura’s stories, those memories are gradually animated by colour and detail, building the scenes as vividly as they would have been at the time, as though they are being remembered into life.

Later on, when we reach the post office, there is a lovely opportunity to settle in one place for longer. By building a more substantial location, we reflect Laura’s journey into adulthood – finding herself and her place in the world. As she settles on more solid ground, so too does the design.

Our characters, who are real and kind, gently hold Laura’s story in their hands.

I wanted them to feel homogenous with the set design. They exist forever in Laura’s mind and heart, and so it felt important to capture a softness and gentleness in their costumes.