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Ailsa Paterson is an award-winning set and costume designer for live performance and film.

She lives and works on the lands of the Kuarna people and pays respect to elders past, present and emerging. Ailsa has worked extensively as a designer for theatre, opera, dance, cabaret, and events. Her work has toured around Australia and to the UK, USA, NZ, and Asia.

Ailsa holds a Bachelor of Dramatic Art, Design from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, and a Diploma in Advanced AutoCAD from TAFE SA. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Flinders University, SA. Ailsa was Resident Designer for the State Theatre Company of SA in 2019 and was a 2011 recipient of the Mike Walsh Fellowship.


Design Credits

2022

Tracker by Ursula Yovich and Amy Sole
Australian Dance Theatre with Ilbijerri Theatre Company
Costume design, directed by Daniel Riley and Rachael 
Mama

Boxing Day BBQ by Sam O'Sullivan
Ensemble Theatre
Set design, directed by Mark Kilmurry

A Christmas Carol adapted by Hilary Bell
Ensemble Theatre
Set design, directed by Damien Ryan

Single Asian Female by Michelle Law
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Nescha Jelk

Chalkface by Angela Betzien
Sydney Theatre Company/State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Jessica Arthur

Watershed composed by Joseph Twist, libretto by Alana Valentine & Christos Tsioklas
Adelaide Festival
Set & costume design, directed by Neil Armfield

Girls and Boys by Dennis Kelly
Adelaide Festival/State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Mitchell Butel

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
Sydney Festival/State Theatre Company of SA/Queensland Theatre
Set & costume design, directed by Margaret Harvey


2021

Hibernation by Finegan Kruckemeyer
State Theatre Company of SA
Associate costume design, directed by Mitchell Butel

Myth or The Go Between by Alise Sluiter
Blue Soup Films/Gravity and other Myths
Production & costume design, directed by Alies Sluiter

The Boy Who Talked to Dogs by Amy Conroy
Adelaide Festival/Slingsby Theatre
Costume design, directed by Andy Packer

Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Slingsby/Geordie Theatre Montreal
Set Design, directed by Andy Packer


2020

Ripcord by David Lindsay-Abaire
State Theatre Company of SA
Set design, directed by Mitchell Butel

Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Catherine Fitzgerald


2019

The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow
Queensland Theatre/State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Corey McMahon

End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter
Adelaide Cabaret Festival/State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Elena Carapetis

Jasper Jones by Kate Mulvaney
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Nesha Jelk


2018

Dido & Aeneas by Henry Purcell
State Opera Company SA
Set & costume design, directed by Nicholas Cannon

Creditors by Duncan Graham after Henrik Ibsen
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by David Mealor

Sense & Sensibility by Kate Hamill
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Geordie Brookman

The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow
Queensland Theatre
Set & costume design, directed by John Halpin

Baba Yaga by Rosemary Myers, Shona Reppe and Christine Johnson
Windmill Theatre Company
Set design*, directed by Rosemary Myers
*Winner of Best Set Design, Critics’ Awards for Theatre, Scotland


2017

Switzerland by Joanna Murray-Smith
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Nescha Jelk

Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare
State Theatre Company of SA/Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Set and costume design, directed by Corey McMahon

Yo Diddle Diddle by Naomi Edwards, Ailsa Paterson, Ashton Malcolm, DJ Trip, Nick Mollison and Jo Stone
Patch Theatre Company
Set and costume design, directed by Naomi Edwards

Emil & The Detectives by Nicki Bloom
Slingsby Theatre
Costume Design, directed by Andy Packer

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Elena Carapetis
State Theatre Company of SA
Costume design, directed by Geordie Brookman

A Night in Vienna conducted by Nicholas Carter
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Set design

Vigil by Steve Vizard
Adelaide Cabaret Festival/Melbourne Arts Centre
Set and costume design, directed by Andy Packer

2016

The 39 Steps by Patrick Barlow
State Theatre Company of SA
Set and Costume Design, directed by Jon Halpin

Things I Know to be True by Andrew Bovell
State Theatre Company of SA
Costume design, directed by Geordie Brookman

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton, adapted by George Palmer
State Opera of South Australia
Costume design, directed by Gale Edwards

Debut 5 by Restless Dance Company
Restless Dance Company
Costume Design


2015

Naturally by Michelle Ryan
Restless Dance Company
Set & costume design, directed by Michelle Ryan

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, music by Felix Mendelssohn
State Theatre Company of SA / Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Set & costume design, directed by Geordie Brookman

The Streets by Teatre Garasi
OzAsia Festival
Set design, directed by Yudi Ahmad Tajudin

Betrayal by Harold Pinter
State Theatre Company of SA
Costume design & associate set design, directed by Geordie Brookman

Beckett Triptych (Eh Joe, Footfalls and Krapp’s Last Tape) by Samuel Beckett
State Theatre Company of SA/ Adelaide Festival
Set & costume design, directed by Corey McMahon, Geordie Brookman and Nescha Jelk


2014

Cranky Bear based on the book by Nick Bland
Patch Theatre Company/ National Tour
Set & costume design, directed by Dave Brown

Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz
Ensemble Theatre
Set & costume design, directed by Mark Kilmurray

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Geordie Brookman

Little Bird by Nicki Bloom
State Theatre Company of SA/ Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Costume design, directed by Geordie Brookman

The Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage based on the tale by the Brothers Grimm
Slingsby Theatre
Costume design, directed by Andy Packer

The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
State Theatre Company of SA / Adelaide Festival
Costume design, directed by Geordie Brookman


2013

An Ode to Nonsense composed by Quincy Grant, libretto by Jane Goldney
Slingsby / State Opera of SA
Costume design, directed by Andy Packer

Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
State Theatre Company of SA
Costume design & associate set design, directed by Geordie Brookman

Seminar by Theresa Rebeck
Ensemble Theatre
Set & costume design, directed by Anna Crawford

You, Me and the Bloody Sea by Cameron Goodall, Quincy Grant and Andy Packer
Slingsby / Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Set & costume design, directed by Andy Packer


2012

In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play by Sarah Ruhl
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Catherine Fitzgerald

Skylight by David Hare
Ensemble Theatre
Set & costume design, directed by Mark Kilmurray

War Mother by Harold Pinter, Franca Rame, Dario Fo, and Marjoijn van Heemstra
State Theatre Company of SA
Set & costume design, directed by Catherine Fitzgerald

The Ham Funeral by Patrick White
State Theatre Company of SA / Adelaide Festival
Set & costume design, directed by Adam Cook

PRE-2012

Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
State Theatre Company of SA 2011
Costume design, directed by Adam Cook

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield
State Theatre Company of SA 2011
Set & costume design, directed by Adam Cook

Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck
Pacific Opera 2010
Costume design, directed by Christine Douglas

The Price by Arthur Miller
State Theatre Company of SA 2010
Set & costume design, directed by Adam Cook

Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Harlos Productions 2010/2009
Costume design, directed by David Ritchie

Shining City by Conor McPherson
Griffin Independent 2009
Set & costume Design, directed by Nick Pollock

La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini
Pacific Opera 2009
Costume design, directed by Christine Douglas

Away by Michael Gow
Sydney Grammar School 2009
Set & costume design, directed by Bronwen Williams

The Cripple of Inishmaan* by Martin McDonagh
State Theatre Company of SA 2008
Set & costume design, directed by Adam Cook
*nominated for Best Set Design, Curtain Call Awards

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
ATYP 2008
Costume design, directed by Kate Gaul

Bone by John Donnelly
Seymour Centre/ Darlinghurst Theatre 2007/2006
Costume design, directed by Tanya Goldberg

Alcina by G.F.Handel
Opera Australia
Costume illustrator, directed by Justin Way

Debris by Dennis Kelly
Melbourne Fringe/Old Fitzroy Theatre 2006
Costume design, directed by Tanya Goldberg

Tom and Viv by Michael Hastings
Sydney Grammar School 2006
Set & costume design, directed by Peter Rudge

A Couple of Blaguards by Frank McCourt
Melbourne Comedy Theatre/ Seymour Centre 2006/2005
Set & costume design, directed by Howard Platt

The Internationalist by Anne Washburn
Darlinghurst Theatre 2005
Costume designer, directed by Laurissa Poulos

Faustus by Robert Couch after Marlowe
BSharp 2005
Costume designer, directed by Joseph Couch

Vampirella by Angela Carter
Darlinghurst Theatre 2004
Costume designer, directed by Hallie Shellam

Madame Melville by Richard Nelson
BSharp 2004
Set & costume designer, directed by Adam Cook

Owen Wingrave by Benjamin Britten
Opera Company 2004
Set & costume design, directed by Rosalie Fletcher

Shifted/Random Play
Sydney Dance Company 2003
Set & costume designer, choreographed by Joseph Brown


TV/Film Credits

The Straits
ABC Drama 2011, Screen Queensland
Costume assistant

LAID
ABC Teleseries 2010
Costume assistant

The Loved Ones
Feature Film 2010
Costume illustrator

Underbelly: The Golden Mile
Screentime Productions/Channel 9 2009
Costume assistant 1

Fearless
Wes Carr Film Clip 2009
Costume assistant 1

Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
Screentime Productions/Channel 9 2008/9
Costume assistant 1

The Mighty Hand of God
Short Film 2008
Production & costume design, directed by Tanya Goldberg

The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce
ABC Docudrama 2008
Costume assistant, directed by Michael Rowland

Blue Water High
Southern Star Productions/ABC 2007
Costume assistant/Standby

Ten Empty by Anthony Hayes and Brendan Cowell
South Australian Film Corp. 2006
Assistant costume designer, directed by Anthony Hayes

Life is Better With You
Eskimo Joe Film Clip 2005
Costume stylist, directed by Anton Monstead

Drive
Short Film UTS/AFTRS 2004
Production & costume design, directed by Simone O’Halloran


Musical Theatre/Events

High School Musical
Disney – Capitol Theatre Sydney 2008
Wardrobe maintenance

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert The Musical
Lyric Theatre, Star City 2007
Wardrobe dresser

The Boy From Oz Arena Spectacular
Sydney Entertainment Centre 2006
Wardrobe dresser

The Asian Games
Opening Ceremony, Doha 2006
Sewer/art department