The Pygmalion set for the Oldham Coliseum was a beautiful design by Michael Holt with some great details, dynamic scene changes & with an overall grand feeling. With three act locations on a relatively small stage Holt had to be inventive with the use of flats that folded out from off stage, hidden trucks & flown pieces to create each act. This is where Splinter came in and worked closely with Holt to produce a set that would work successfully with ease for every show.

The most adaptive elements of the set design were the down stage left & right doorways that were present in every act. Working as the architecture of Covent Garden to start, followed up as a framing device for bookcases for Mr Higgins’ Study and finishing as part of the interior design of the opulent drawing room of Mrs Higgins. This required careful consideration and calculations to allow multiple elements to hinge back and forth with ease and more importantly without colliding with one another. To top this all off the paint finish had to be tied in to work with all three acts without the large set pieces looking fitting in one act and quite alien within another.

Another element of the set included the entirety of Mr Higgins’ Study which was mounted on a truck to be wheeled up and down stage and therefore had to be both practical and lightweight. Finally, the flats for Mrs Higgins’ Drawing Room were all constructed to use different methods to reveal themselves ranging from wheeled pivoted trucks to a large flown Frenchmen flat with flying lines concealed discreetly within the buildup of the structure.