Pride and Prejudice… by Louie Whitemore

FANS of previous film and television adaptations of Pride and Prejudice should be able to recognise a number of ‘Easter eggs’ in the Theatre by the Lake stage production, says the play’s Keswick-based set and costume designer Louie Whitemore. Louie, aged 41, is part of the creative team working behind the scenes which has helped bring Jane Austen’s love story featuring Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet to life.

As part of the production’s design process, Louie said nods had been included to the six-part BBC series starring Colin Firth, the 2005 film with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen plus every version in between. There are also elements which younger audience members, who are fans of the popular Netflix series Bridgerton, will be able to relate to.

“We felt that we needed to deliver nods to all of those things, as well as traditional romcom tropes, that you see in every romcom film, which we wanted to have in there in the mix,” said Louie

She explained that things like the period hat which Mr Collins wears, which is also worn in the BBC series, are there to provide the audience with a little treat, known as Easter eggs.

“You need to have those Easter eggs in there because the audience responds to it, it is a very fresh modern version, but it is still very true to the text. The thing that we really wanted to deliver was a good romcom night out for the audience. That led me down the design route that we went down,” said Louie.

Born in Carlisle, she grew up on the edge of Ullswater where her parents, Maureen and Kevin Whitemore, ran the Old Church Hotel, which no longer exists. Louie’s mum is now the owner of Penrith-based Whitemore & Thwaytes interiors. After attending Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith, Louie went to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, which is now called the Royal Scottish Conservatoire, where she did a degree in technical and production arts before going on to do a master’s in production design at the Motley Theatre Design School in London. But it was while she was at school in Penrith that her interest in theatre began, under the watchful eye of Dawn Coates, who retired this year after being head of drama at QEGS for 26 years,

“I used to go to the National Youth Theatre in London. I raised money from some local businesses and I went and worked there during my summer holidays. My first was when I was 15 and I probably did four years,” said Louie, who started out thinking she was going to be a stage manager.

Louie said she had no idea that there was a whole myriad of career options behind the scenes before joining the National Youth Theatre.

Her degree touched upon every role backstage, but she specialised in stage management, design and lighting design. However, post-Covid there are 25 per cent fewer jobs available in theatre design. “In order for the theatre buildings and organisations to survive, we do a lot more co-productions,” said Louie.

Pride and Prejudice, for example, is a Theatre by the Lake, Octagon Theatre Bolton, Stephen Joseph Theatre and Hull Truck Theatre co-production in association with Theatr Clwyd. “That’s five theatres and there would have been five designers, but it’s one designer doing five,” said Louie, who added that this format was how theatres need to operate to survive in the present economic climate.

Having started its run in Bolton, the show then moved on to the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough and Keswick is its third location.
Louie said the show, which has a phenomenal cast, had developed naturally as it had moved from venue to venue. “You don’t ever want it to be just a total carbon copy,” she said. Design challenges, which need to be solved differently at each theatre, include getting the four sisters from their house to the ball without leaving the stage!

A golden ring hangs above the stage, which gives options for both inside and outside scenes.

“Because three of the five venues are set in the round, you can’t have big scenery pieces, and the play is so quick. As an audience member, you don’t want to be sitting watching lots of cumbersome furniture being moved around. “It needed to be really stripped back, but still give us the romance and the gorgeous opulence of that era. “You get an equally great experience in whatever seat you sit in, but obviously there are variations by the nature of it being in the round,” said Louie.

She did her first show at Theatre by the Lake in 2017. That season she designed two shows, Handbagged, which was the first show that Theatre by the Lake’s artistic director Liz Stevenson did, and Miss Julie. But it was Around the World in 80 Days which stands out as a particular favourite. “I was very proud of that show,” she said. Career highlights have also included a production of Nora in 2019 for the English National Ballet at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, in London, which is the pinnacle of dance in the UK.

Louie, who is also curator of the productions part of TBTL’s We Are 25 exhibition, is married to Chris Gill and they have a one-year-old son, Cooper.