Sets
Justin: Tiger Face Show
Justin’s Tiger Face Show has existed in several incarnations over the years. I first encountered it in a pub theatre in Cardiff, with no prior knowledge of its origins or what I was about to see.
Justin is a few years younger than me, but his observations of early television culture mirrored my own memories of late-80s and early-90s TV. The show immediately struck a deep chord of shared nostalgia.
The performance moved through mime, puppet theatre, shadow puppetry, and chaotic farce. It felt, honestly, as though it had been written specifically for me. My face ached from laughing, my eyes streamed, and I left emotionally and physically exhausted — but also strangely reassured.
In one early version, Justin performed a rapid jelly-eating sequence that remains one of the funniest moments I have ever witnessed on stage.
Many years later, Justin approached us about creating a touring stage set for a new version of the show, and we jumped at the opportunity.
We built the set primarily from recycled and reclaimed materials, combined with a few carefully chosen new elements. The rear projection screen, five sheets of poplar ply, a carpet, and a handful of fixings were new — everything else was second-use.
The screen gantry was constructed from CNC-cut plywood shapes, with routed edges on both sides to create the soft cloud effect Justin was looking for. Additional components, including the slide and extra parts, were sourced via Marketplace.
For the finale, we incorporated a mountain bike and a large cylinder mechanism. The entire set fits into an MWB van, with a total weight of under 150kg (excluding stage weights).
Justin provided SketchUp designs and stayed closely involved throughout the build process.
Alex Marshall: House
Alex Marshall — performer and director well known around Cardiff and Newport for his street work with Gary and Pel Live Action Cartoon — approached us to create a flat-pack touring set for his performance piece House.
The brief was clear: a set that could fit into a VW Transporter, withstand outdoor festival conditions, and also work seamlessly in indoor theatres and performance spaces.
We used Dibond composite panels salvaged from a large Barbican set, originally installed as a dance floor for a 2017 opera production. Reclaimed timber from Recycleo in Newport was used to build strong, weather-resistant flat frames, designed for safe outdoor use with ground anchors and ballast weights.
The front door was sourced through the Newport Wood Recycling Project.
At a later stage, Alex returned with plans to expand the design, and we created a series of extension panels to widen the main front-room window.
House has since gained critical acclaim for its moving portrayal of modern relationships and the shared trials of everyday life, expressed beautifully through dance. If you have the chance to see it, it is a powerful and expertly executed piece of theatre.
The Swan in Love
Alex brought another wonderfully unusual design to the workshop: a decapitated swan pedalo boat, destined to become a rideable swan bicycle.
The swan was in poor condition and required major refurbishment, including a completely new neck and structural repairs.
Our team rebuilt the fibreglass neck socket, refinished the body, and installed the swan onto a tricycle chassis using a removable modular system to make transport and touring practical.
We repainted her face and added glass eyes to bring her back to life.
She’s now back in the workshop for her next evolution: a new modular attachment and a pond carousel, currently in development for a Spring 2026 tour.