Appearances: real or an illusion? From stage props to merchandising a storefront window to photoshopping an image – the appearance is what we want you to see. Some are much better than others at playing pretend and we fall for it.

I have always admired the set designers, they can do so much more in the make believe world than we can do in real life architecture, design and construction – unless you have an infinite budget – in which case, as long as you don’t actually defy gravity, then, you really can build it.

In the show we saw last night, each performance group was responsible for their own props and stage setting. I saw a lot of creative use of tissue paper, cardboard and paint! Even without lighting and expensive materials the themes were presented to the audience and helped create an illusion of fire, brick walls, DJ sound systems (with neon tweeters and sub woofers!), the sun, guitars, ghosts and so much more. Whether it is real or not, it still makes you believe in something that is so much more than it really is – even if it was just for 2 minutes – bravo.

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl