“Matilda Woodroofe’s design is monumental and impressively carves out spaces – as psychological as they are architectural – between haves and have-nots...”
“Set and costume designer Matilda Woodroofe excels with her craftsmanship. Her evocative set design is masterful, the contrast between rich and poor stark... Cost of Living is a work of rare beauty and complexity about need and want, which are common to all, regardless of one’s station in life. ”
“The revolve set by Matilda Woodroofe depicts both households: John’s slick, stylishly furbished apartment and the less salubrious surrounds of Ani’s beige living quarters. (With cheerful naiveté Eddie implores her to paint them yellow for a dopamine hit.)”
“Brilliantly cast and acted, the set design was stunning,...The show is an example of authentic casting and a true reflection of wealth, privilege and power.”
MELBOURNE Theatre COMPANY 2024
Set & Costume Design Matilda Woodroofe
Direction Anthea Williams
Writer Martyna Majok
Lighting Design Richard Vabre
Photos Pia Johnston
-
With heart, humour and searing observation, Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living is an honest and insightful look at the forces that bring people together.
When Ani is reunited with her estranged husband Eddie after a devastating accident, their relationship shifts from divorcing to caregiving. John is an affluent PhD candidate with cerebral palsy, and has no qualms about making his support worker – fellow graduate student and bartender-by-night Jess – uncomfortable about her reasons for choosing the job.
Through the lives of four mismatched souls striving for connection, Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning script lays bare the exquisite tenderness and cost of being human.
With an ensemble cast including Rachel Edmonds (When You Wore Braces), Mabel Li (Safe Home), Aaron Pedersen (Mystery Road) and Oli Pizzey Stratford (Neighbours), Cost of Living taps into the essence of human connection and our universal need to care for others and ourselves.
“Set and costume designer Matilda Woodroofe neatly contrasts the haves and have-nots, in part through what they wear but in particular where John and Ani live.
She has created three sets on a revolve (which malfunctioned on opening night, causing a brief unscheduled break in this two-hour play). One is Ani’s small, dilapidated home, with broken blinds and wall tiles, and drab, dirty paint.
The other two represent John’s sleek, spacious apartment with notable accessible features. The bathroom is all gleaming tiles and gold fixtures, while the living room flaunts attractive materials including wood, marble and brick.
The final scene takes place downstage just beyond these sets. Having the two actors at the stage’s extreme, spotlit in darkness with falling snow, drives home how their characters are living on the edge emotionally and even physically.”
