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Olivier-winning designer Marg Horwell is currently making her Broadway debut with the Sarah Snook-led solo adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray, which opened in March at the Music Box Theatre.

Last week, Horwell picked up not one, but two 2025 Tony nominations for her work on the Kip Williams adaptation of the Oscar Wilde classic: Best Costume Design of a Play and Best Scenic Design of a Play, the latter shared with designer David Bergman. (The production, it should be noted, earned a total of six Tony nominations, including one for Snook's acclaimed performance in 26 roles.)

"We love this show so much, and to be recognized, and have our whole creative team recognized with nominations," Horwell told 半岛体育 the day Tony nominations were announced, "is just really the cherry on top, just a really great way to make a debut on Broadway."

The Picture of Dorian Gray, which originated at the Sydney Theatre Company, arrived on Broadway following a sold-out run in the West End in 2024. Horwell's costume design for the London engagement earned her an Olivier.

Director Williams' production features an astonishing mix of video and theatre, all through an intricately choreographed collection of on-stage cameras that bring to life 26 characters, each played by Snook and each featuring one of Horwell's award-winning designs.

Horwell, whose work has been recognized with 13 Greenroom Awards and three Sydney Theatre Awards, counts among her recent credits The Seagull at the Barbican; Sydney Theatre Company stagings of Dracula and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; The Confessions at the National Theatre; My Brilliant Career, Bernhardt/Hamlet, and Escaped Alone for Melbourne Theatre Company; The Dead City at Deutsche Oper Am Rhein; and Salome and The Marriage of Figaro for the English National Opera.

In the interview below for the 半岛体育 series How Did I Get Here鈥攕potlighting not only actors, but directors, designers, musicians, and others who work on and off the stage to create the magic that is live theatre鈥擧orwell explains how The Picture of Dorian Gray reflects the version of ourselves we present to the public, how she achieved the show's many quick changes, and why it's okay to not have it all figured out by 30.

Where did you train/study?
Marg Horwell: I attended university in Melbourne, Australia, studying Creative Arts, which was a multidisciplinary course including almost everything except what I ended up doing. The course actually offered Theatre Design as a unit one year, and I enrolled in it, but there weren't enough people for it to run, so it was canceled. I didn't know you had to unenroll if a course didn't run, so on my university transcript, the only subject I have failed is Theatre Design!

Was there a teacher who was particularly impactful/helpful? What made this instructor stand out?
A director came in as a guest lecturer, and we had to devise something, a short play, something in a particular theatrical style. I used to skip class a lot, and our group just sat around writing stupid jokes. Months into the project, she pulled us aside and basically said, "What are you doing? You鈥檙e talented, you're smart, and you can do this standing on your head. Why are you just fucking around?" It was the first time anyone had ever called me on my bullshit. She was absolutely right; if you're going to do something, throw everything into it, and don't waste everyone's time. I've designed 12 productions for this director since that time鈥攕he's one of the hardest working and tenacious theatre makers, and has made me a more brave and resourceful collaborator with a ferocious work ethic. Her name is Susie Dee, and she's brilliant.

What were some of the challenges of designing the sets and costumes for this solo version of The Picture of Dorian Gray?
The biggest challenges are also the greatest opportunities on a show like Dorian Gray. The images in the theatre need to be big enough to fill the stage, while the details of the design need to be intricate enough to furnish a picture on a screen. It means I can design a set piece that looks like a simple fireplace but, because we see it magnified on screen, you can see the added details where every portrait in the show has Sarah's face; when she stands at the fireplace, every portrait of her is facing her at the moment she is discussing how her portrait has changed. The design is so layered that then the screen configuration can emulate this concept, in closeups of portraits on screens looking at Sarah live on stage. 

The concept of curating ourselves in the world, of manufacturing or of performing the public version of our lives, is central to every design decision in the production鈥攈ow we conceal parts of us and how we are at the mercy of public scrutiny on every detail of our lives. The ability to strategically reveal detail, to find cracks in the artifice鈥攁nd to also disguise Sarah with wigs and moustaches, with shoes that change her posture鈥攊s at the heart of the themes of the piece. The terror is that there is nowhere to hide; every mistake is amplified to massive proportions. I'm asking a lot of my dressers and wigs people, my carpenters and stage managers to achieve something incredibly specific with the precision of intricate choreography.

Since the audience gets to see many of the costume changes, did that influence your design? Can you share one or two of the quick-change tricks that are being employed?
I love seeing the details of the construction and deconstruction of character; it is so glorious watching Sarah transform into character before your eyes. I also never want design to get in the way of the rhythm of the show and knew I wanted the costume changes to happen seamlessly while the show continued at full pace; it should feel effortless and like the characters are built around her in seconds. I wanted to achieve very distinct looks in the fastest time, which involved some characters layered over others, avoiding loud or distracting closures, and with nothing that would go over Sarah's head so she could keep talking while she's changing.

I think the most impressive change is one you don't actually see happening. Sarah plays a scene where you don't see the bottom half of her body鈥攕he speaks continuously, and we see her on screen the whole time. During this monologue, someone is crouched by her feet changing her shoes and trousers while she speaks. It's the only time we can change her bottom half during the show. I love that a lot of people have no idea when it happens.

Can you discuss your relationship with the video designer since your work on Dorian Gray is so linked together?
Dave [Bergman] has more of a cinematic style, and my aesthetic is very much based in theatre and photography, so we complement each other well. I agonize over the detail of every frame while he thinks about movement and momentum. As many layers of footage often occupy one screen, the scenic design and video design were developed together as we made the show, continually informing each other and collaborating on the images produced. It is a really idiosyncratic process making a show like this as most of the pre-recorded characters are designed to look like they're occupying the same space as Sarah live. The pre-recording process embraces theatre-making in its approach: scenes are recorded in continuous takes, the camera is often locked off so Sarah can use the camera as an audience or eyeline of the character she is speaking to, and Kip directed the scenes as though it was all happening live.

To achieve this, we had to film with the actual set pieces in the precise configuration they would occupy on stage with the same lighting that would eventually be used onstage. Every person in the creative team is involved in the setup of every shot as it should emulate the live performance we see in the theatre. It means our relationship really involves a lot of planning and mathematics and geometry! In London, we performed on a raked stage, which meant specific footage had to be filmed on a rake to sell the illusion that pre-recorded Sarah was occupying the same space as live Sarah鈥攕o there are multiple versions of some scenes specific to each venue the show has been performed in.

If you could leave one costume design and one set design from any show in a time capsule as representative of your work, which would you choose?
This is an amazing question! I think what defines my aesthetic is images or looks that combine something historical or of the era of the play, but combined with something that is very contemporary, often referential to specific contemporary fashion or politics. I love mixing things that look expensive with things that look deliberately mass produced or cheap. 

I recently worked with Cate Blanchett on The Seagull in London. She plays Irina Arkadina, an actress who has spent her life performing in public and private and is clinging to her fading relevance and fame. In Act 2, she emerges from a field of reeds wearing a pair of men's blue jeans entirely encrusted with rhinestones and a simple white T-shirt with her name, Irina Arkadina, printed boldly in black on the front (a collab with company Girls On Tops, who design and sell these styles of shirts to celebrate women in film; they make a Cate Blanchett T-shirt as part of their range). Cate also suggested wearing tap shoes throughout the scene, which is incredible to me. Later in the scene, she enters wearing a red bikini over the jeans with her hair in pigtails. It's simple and iconic and wonderfully unhinged. It is so specific to the performer and the time in which the work was made. I loved working with Cate on this look.

Choosing a set design is hard. I want the work I make to affect how an audience feels watching a piece, to change the temperature of the air in the room. I think I'd choose Escaped Alone, a one-act play by Caryl Churchill (directed by Anne-Louise Sarks for the Melbourne Theatre Company). Four olden women sit in a garden and discuss everyday things, their lives, their fears, their children and grandchildren. Intermittently, one of the women delivers monologues of apocalypse and devastation, of the end of the world. The play spans an afternoon, but it also feels as though it spans decades and centuries. The set was a wild garden of grasses and meadow flowers with the women seated amongst it like relics. Over the course of the 50-minute show, the grass, slowly, imperceptibly, grew around them, and flowers emerged as time passed. It was an incredibly simple concept that had to be meticulously realized. I love that it gave the piece a disconcerting feeling; audiences didn't always notice the grass growing but felt that something had shifted in that space, that we had traveled through time.

What is the most memorable day job you ever had?
I used to work in graduation dress at a university, dressing students in their robes and caps for their ceremony. I also spent a summer refurbishing 500 Santa Claus hats and beards, which was a unique kind of punishment. When I was starting out, I worked in the "skins departments" on the production Walking With Dinosaurs and spent a year in boom lifts sewing dinosaur skin onto their massive frames.

Tell me about a job/opportunity you really wanted but didn鈥檛 get. How did you get over that disappointment?
When I was in my late 20s, I was somehow recommended to design a large musical in Australia. I had no experience of designing anything of that scale and had never designed a musical before. I was so confident as a young designer and thought if you hadn't made it by the time you were 30, then you were a failure. I was devastated when the show went to a more experienced designer. Looking back, I am so grateful I wasn't given this opportunity that I was categorically unqualified for. I remember seeing the show and being so relieved that other people knew more than I did at that time.

What is your proudest achievement as a designer?
Winning an Olivier Award for The Picture of Dorian Gray was an incredible, unexpected honor. While I am proud of a lot of the work I do, it is humbling and remarkable to be honored in this way. I think my proudest achievement would actually be the position I am in now, that I am able to choose projects that are creatively and politically exciting and challenging to me, that I get to work on mostly new work (or new adaptations of existing work), and that I am able to be involved in these projects from the very beginning, shaping the design of the show alongside the scripts. That I am able to recognize what projects suit me and what projects are not for me. 

Opening a show on Broadway, making my Broadway debut, is also pretty hard to beat. I'm so proud of the journey The Picture of Dorian Gray has been on and the incredible reception we've received in New York. It will forever be a highlight of my career.

What advice would you give your younger self or anyone starting out?
There is no one way to make a career in this industry; find your own path. Find your people鈥攖his can take time, but it's the most rewarding thing when you get to make work with your creative soul mates. Building a career can take longer than you think: If you haven't found great success by the age of 30, you are not a failure! Document your work properly. The amazing thing about theatre is that it is live for the time the season runs, but make sure you properly record the work you have done before it disappears. 

Also, someone once told me to never scrimp on shoes, and it's excellent advice. Buy actors good shoes.

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Photos: Kieran Culkin and Cast of Succession Celebrate The Picture of Dorian Gray Opening Night

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