Digital Scenery
The Band
Centre Stage Productions
“Everything Kyle produced for The Band has been of such a high standard. All notes that were given were acted upon immediately.
He’s a real joy to work with and I can’t wait to work together on future productions.”
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Mark Hilton, Show Director
For Centre Stage’s 2025 production of The Band, we developed a fully animated digital backcloth that became a central storytelling device—transforming the stage into a living scrapbook that guided the audience through Rachel’s life.
The brief
As well as the rendered graphics for the living scrapbook concept, we were also asked to advise on how best to integrate the rear-projection screen into Mark Hilton’s staging concept, which featured three rostra of varying heights and six custom-designed tormentors.
Final staging concept
Rostras with rear projection screen
Rostra covers added and lined in strip lighting
Tormentor designs to match character colours
Tormentors in and rear projection in place
Our approach
Our first challenge was helping the production team visualise the scale and placement of the rear-projection screen so it remained clearly visible above the elevated platforms and to every seat in the auditorium. We proposed cropping the digital screen with a black tab above and framing it left and right using the rear tormentors. These were cut at a 2.8-degree angle to subtly draw the audience’s eye upward, giving the screen greater visual dominance.
Each set of tormentors was colour-coded to reflect key characters, with the front pair further dressed using fairy lights, large-format photography, and foam-board shapes.
To maintain a cohesive visual language, we drew heavily from the show’s existing marketing assets designed by Kelly Firth, extending this aesthetic into the staging and digital scenery.
“The projections by Kyle Withington helped to establish each new location and mood with clarity. Whether depicting a bus, a plane, or the glow of a concert stage, the projections worked in harmony with the set, costumes, lighting, and sound design to elevate the storytelling.”
Mags Sheldon, NODA
The animated visuals were built around Rachel’s scrapbook, with pages turning as the story progressed. At key moments, we zoomed into photographs and artwork within the scrapbook to focus attention on significant events and locations.
The impact
The result was a set of seamlessly cued video files that took the on-stage action smoothly from scene to scene. The production enjoyed a highly successful run at the Gaiety Theatre in October 2025 and received a glowing write-up from NODA.
Video ©2025 Noah Mayne