Making a Scene

Scholastic Art: What is your job?

Brett Banakis: I’m a scenographer, a scenery designer for theater. I also do visual design for all sorts of entertainment media. Scenography is much more than just creating a backdrop, place, or setting. It’s visual storytelling.

SA: What’s your working process?

BB: I start by reading the script three times so I really understand it. First, I read for enjoyment, then information, and finally to highlight words that capture my attention. I create a short poem using the highlighted words to figure out what is most important about the story. Next I gather images that are inspiring, meaningful, or relevant, and build a collage on my studio wall. This helps me make important visual connections. I also create a scale model of the performance space, kind of like a diorama (above). The director and other key team members use the model, moving things around and sharing their ideas for how to make the show come to life.

SA: You are the international scenic supervisor for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. What does that mean?

BB: I’m like the brain trust for the show’s set design. When the play opened in London, I assisted with developing drawings, building models, and working with the illusions and special effects designers. The play is now on Broadway, and there are seven international shows, so I help create new versions of the original set for each one. This might include making the set wider or moving a scene downstage to accommodate lighting. The changes may seem minor, but they make a major difference in how we build the show.

SA: What skills do you need to be a successful scenographer?

BB: You have to be good at everything, but not great at anything. There are so many things you have to understand to help successfully shape an experience through scenography: reading and analyzing a text, history, architecture, physics, budgets, drawing, colors, fabric, lighting, sound, and more. If you are good at all of these things, you can be a very well-rounded designer. Scenery design is also about bringing art, problem solving, collaboration, and creativity together to achieve a goal.

SA: Do you have advice for students who are interested in pursuing a career like yours?

BB: It was important to me to have a strong liberal arts education, rather than just theater. As a designer, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of learning. When I open a new script, I may not know anything about the time, place, or culture in which it happens. Every single project I dive into starts with research. And I’m always learning new technologies for lighting and building sets. You are constantly learning, so you have to be the kind of person who wants to learn and engage in the world in thoughtful ways.