The initial World Stage Design exhibition in Toronto in March drew designers from around the world. Medal winners are listed at left along with WSD jury members.

Photo/R. Finkelstein

by Eric Fielding
Director, WSD 2005

After an incredible effort by the many members of the volunteer staff and crew (with only 36 hours to load-in and install the exhibition), World Stage Design 2005 opened to the public on March 12, 2005, at Toronto's Royal York Canadian Room. The opening was celebrated at a reception attended by more than 200 of the participating designers, along with OISTAT, USITT, and CITT officials and representatives of the Toronto arts community.

The WSD 2005 exhibition which was viewed by several thousand people during its run consisted of the Digital Exhibit section—a visual and aural presentation on large projection screens, video walls, and interactive computer kiosks of the nearly 1000 designs submitted by 532 designers from 43 nations —and the Gallery Exhibit section—a presentation of renderings, drawings, models, costumes, and other material from the 176 set, costume, and lighting designs chosen by the International Selection Jury as the most outstanding work among that included in the Digital Exhibit. The WSD 2005 exhibition also included the Sound Room where the 11 best soundscapes and music scores were presented on a high-end audio system.

On Monday evening, March 14, award medals and cash prizes were presented to the top designs in WSD 2005 as determined by the nine-member International Awards Jury. Below are lists of the medalists and the members of the award jury panel.

The inaugural World Stage Design project concluded its successful eight-day exhibition on March 19. At the OISTAT World Congress on March 14, the Korean OISTAT Centre extended its invitation to host WSD 2009. We are grateful to all those who contributed to the success of WSD 2005: the many sponsors, companies, organizations, institutions, and individuals who made the dream of World Stage Design a reality. We are excited that through OISTAT, and its various member organizations, this new international celebration of set, costume, lighting, and sound design will occur again in 2009 and each four years thereafter in different locations around the world.

Medal winners also cash prizes of $500 for Bronze, $750 for Silver and $1,000 for Gold.

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Medal Winners in Sound Design

Bronze: sponsored by CITT/ICTS
Ross Brown (England/UK) for Bartleby: A Story of Wall Street

Silver: sponsored by Engineering Harmonics, Inc.
Martin John Gallagher (USA) for Fahrenheit 451

Gold: sponsored by Stage Research, Inc.
Joe Pino (USA) for Bell & Clock: The Dead Media Project

Medal Winners in Lighting Design

Bronze: sponsored by MDG Fog Generators
Rick Fisher (England/UK) for Wozzeck

Silver: sponsored by OISTAT
Madeleine Sobota (USA) for 3 designs: Hamletmachine, Women of Troy, Saint Joan

Gold: sponsored by Tom Watson
Philippe Amand (Mexico) for two designs: Stones in his Pockets, St. Joan of the Stockyards

Medal Winners in Costume Design

Bronze: sponsored by The Tobin Foundation for Theatre Arts
Teresa Snider-Stein (USA) for Drowning

Silver: sponsored by USITT
Karin Chiu (Hong Kong) for two designs: Pinocchio, Journey to the West

Gold: sponsored by Rit Dye, Phoenix Brands LLC
Mónica Raya Mejía (Mexico) for two designs: King Lear, The Marriage of Heaven & Hell

Medal Winners in Set Design

Honorable Mention: Howard C. Jones (USA) for Hedda Gabbler

Bronze: sponsored by The Tobin Foundation for Theatre Arts
Gino Gonzales (Philippines) for Spolarium

Silver: sponsored by Tom Watson
Roni Toren (Israel) for Don Giovanni

Gold: sponsored by Rose Brand Theatrical Fabrics Fabrications & Supplies
Jorge Ballina (Mexico) for 4 designs: The Italian Girl, Copenhagen, The Magic Flute, Rheingold

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WSD 2005 International Awards Jury

Janne Auvinen (Finland) - sound and lighting designer for theatre, television, museums and exhibitions; head of the theatre consultancy department of Akukon Ltd., the leading acoustical and theatre design company in Scandinavia and Baltic countries

Ondrej Cerny (Czech Republic) - director of the Theatre Institute in Prague and director of the Prague Quadrennial, the leading international exhibition of scenography and theatre architecture

Kazue Hatano (Japan) - set and costume designer; vice president and chair of the Scenography Commission at OISTAT's Japan Center; board member of the Japan Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians and general secretary of the Society of Japanese Theatre Designers

Ian Herbert (England) - publisher, editor, author; and critic; editor of the last three editions of the reference book Who's Who in the Theatre; publisher of the journal London Theatre Record—in 1991 renamed Theatre Record; president of the International Association of Theatre Critics

Eduard Kochergin (Russia) - internationally acclaimed scenic designer; throughout his 45-year career he has participated in exhibitions around the world and designed for productions in Eastern and Western Europe as well as for the Shaw Festival in Canada

David Mirvish (Canada)- producer of theatre in Toronto, across Canada, in London, England, and on Broadway; director of Mirvish Productions; owns and operates three theatres in Toronto: The Royal Alexandra Theatre, The Princess of Wales Theatre, and the Canon Theatre, formerly known as the Pantages

Rosie Lam Tung Pui-Man (Hong Kong)- TV set designer, stage designer, and theatre educator; head of the diploma program for the School of Technical Arts at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Iván Szabó-Jilek (Hungary)- freelance theatre designing engineer and consultant on theatre technology and stage lighting; theatre design and technology journal editor; founding member of the OISTAT; now serves as managing director of the Hungarian Society for Theatre Technology

Jennifer Tipton (USA)- well-known lighting designer for theater, dance, and opera; designs for choreographers such as Jerome Robbins, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp; work on and off- Broadway has also garnered her two American Theatre Wing Awards, an Obie, two Drama Desk Awards, and two Tony awards.

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