In our series exploring people's Playhouse Connections, we chat with theatre designer Delicia Sorhaindo who has been on a year-long placement as our Jerwood Resident Designer.

Delicia made her professional debut as Assistant Designer on Nine Night at the Playhouse in 2022. She previously worked with us on a wardrobe department placement during her time at Nottingham Trent University.

Her role as Jerwood Resident Designer led to her working on a wide range of projects with both the Playhouse and Leeds-based children’s theatre company Tutti Frutti.

Skills developed while working with the Playhouse

I began developing my costume making skills while doing a two week work experience with the Playhouse. I had the opportunity to work with the amazing Costume department while they were making costumes for Wendy and Peter Pan. Currently, I am developing my set design skills in the resident designer position.

Key piece of advice

Apply! Even if you feel you don’t have relevant experience for a role or opportunity, just go for it. Just having your name on the radar can lead to so many things. I also encourage emailing people, asking if you can buy them a coffee and have a chat. Even if they don’t have anything for you at the moment, you’ve now made a connection. Once they know who you are, they’ll always keep you in mind for opportunities!

Most memorable moment

I think it would have to be the Introduction to Set Design course, it was a really amazing opportunity to be in a room filled with other creatives, to learn and connect. It was such a great experience.

Making valuable connections

From the R&D I did at the Playhouse, I was able to make connections within the organisation, and this lead to a two week placement in the costume department. This was such a great opportunity to put the learning from my university course, Costume Design and Making, into practice.

Three words to describe Leeds Playhouse

Artistic, Fun, Community!

The Jerwood Resident Designer role is a one-year paid placement funded by Jerwood Arts. The Playhouse is one of 16 organisations benefiting from a total of £1m invested in early-career artist development over two years. As well as the one-year placement, Jerwood has also funded two short-term placements at the Playhouse and two Introduction to Design courses for up to 30 locally-based designers.