In another life I think I would have loved to have been a theatre designer. They are artists, architects, engineers and magicians all rolled into one. We sometimes forget they are there, that the set is another actor in the space. In the next few days the World Stage Design conference opens in Cardiff, Wales.

WSD is described as a celebration of international performance design from the world of theatre, opera and dance as well as public performances and installations in non theatre spaces that takes place every 4 years. WSD started life in 2005 in Toronto, Canada. In 2009 it was held in Seoul, South Korea. While reading about it, I also learned about OISTAT, the International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians a global network of theatre makers celebrating design and technology in live performance. The websites for both these organisations make interesting perusing.

I would really like to be at WSD, I think it would be a fascinating and exciting few days. However, I did raise a rye smile when I saw they were building a temporary, sustainable theatre for the conference, known as The Willow Theatre, lauding it as something new:

.

Now I know that I have seen them being built for many years and in an even more sustainable way:

.

The location for WSD2017 is yet to be decided, but perhaps they should start thinking about calling in the traditional bamboo theatre builders in instead? Mind you, one of the designers behind the The Willow is Chinese-american architect Tim Lai so perhaps it is just a modern take on a centuries old craft.