Verdi’s masterful operatic retelling of the seemingly immortal Shakespearean epic tragedy Macbeth is set to hit the His Majesty’s Theatre stage this weekend, courtesy of the West Australian Opera in conjunction with the State Opera of South Australia. Telling the familiar story of a Scottish thane’s ambition-filled rise and fall, sprinkled with witches and ghosts alike, the challenge of reinvention is one at the forefront of many a producer’s mind when staging an epic like this. Add on the added dimension of power-house classical singers, and the challenge is doubled. As our chat with Macbeth’s Tony Award-winning Costume and Set Designer Roger Kirk tells us, though, sometimes less is more.

Tell us a little bit about your journey getting into design—was it always something you wanted to do? When did it ‘click’ for you that this was your thing?

Theatre design was something I always wanted to do. I was taken to the theatre a lot when I was a child as my mother and grandmother both loved going, so my passion started there.

What drew you to this production of Macbeth?

Stuart Maunder (the Macbeth Director) had asked me to design Macbeth, and as I had designed the costumes for the play for the Sydney Theatre Company in the 80’s, I thought it would to be great to do the operatic version.

Macbeth has been staged countless times over centuries in different forms. How do you go about creating costume and set designs that are fresh?

Stuart said that he wanted (the designs) to be “simple”, so that’s how I came up with the idea of sliding columns to carve up the stage into different looks. The costumes were made to be interchangeable, with bits that went under a basic costume to make different looks.

What are the challenges associated with designing costumes for opera as opposed to other stage art forms?

There aren’t actually many differences, except singers don’t like anything too tight around their neck or their ears to be covered.

Are there any particular places you like to visit or things you like to do when drawing inspiration for your costumes?

You have to do your research. In the end, you’ll find you use one bit from here and another bit from there, which help you make your own look.

What is the costume that you have been most proud of designing in your career to date?

There have lots from many different productions. However, the costumes from my production of The King & I which played in New York and London to critical acclaim are some I’m most proud of.

And last of all: What is one fashion trend that should be banned forever?

I think jeans turned into short shorts with the pockets hanging below the shorts are a fashion “No-No” and should be banned, along with mid riff tops. All too often these are worn together.