The World of Treasure Island | Costume & Set designer Tom Rogers
2 Dec 2025
The utterly brilliant Tom Rogers is the Set & Costume designer for our Christmas spectacular Treasure Island: A New Musical Adventure.
This will be his 7th design for Bristol Old Vic so we asked him all about his latest creation and why the relationship feels like a match made in heaven!
Where did the inspiration for the design come from?
The two main locations for the story are the ship, The Hispaniola, and the Island. I knew from the outset that I wanted to play with the masts of a boat becoming the trunks of the palm trees of a desert island so that was my starting point and I built the rest of the world around it.
I like the idea that the design peels away like the layers of an onion to reveal new things each time so that the design doesn’t become too static and there are continuous visual surprises for the audience.
What can you tell us about the costumes? Also are there any specific things you need to take into account for actor-musicians?
With an actor-musician show it’s very difficult to get anyone off the stage long enough to do a costume change as they need to almost constantly be onstage to accompany the action on their instruments. Therefore it was necessary to build their 18th Century look on top of elements of their present day costumes that they start in. This actually led to the idea of then adding contemporary twists to the 18th Century costume elements - like familiar sportswear insignia being applied to a tricorn hat. The clothes we see them in for 2025 are also mirrored in their 18th Century characters - the businessman's suit becomes a Pinstripe 18th Century ensemble, denim jackets become denim frock coats and so on.
You've designed a few times for this theatre, what are the specific things you love about it, and what are the challenges?
This is my 7th time designing for the main house here at Bristol Old Vic and I’ve been coming here for 30 years since I was a student of drama at the University here. It is without question my favourite theatre in the country. Not only is the auditorium beautiful but there’s just something in the atmosphere that feels so welcoming and utterly magical. The in-house team here are also absolutely brilliant and I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with many of them since the very beginning of my career. I love designing worlds that blend with the space but that also burst out of it. Despite my deep love for it it also does have some of the trickiest audience sightlines to deal with!
Is there a specific element in the design that's your favourite bit?
Nowadays it is common for backcloths to be printed rather than painted so it was a particular joy that we got to utilise the original Bristol Old Vic paint frame (one of very few still existing in the country) for the brilliant Cliff Thorne and his team to paint a huge replica of the original Robert Louis Stevenson map to use as our backdrop. It’s an absolutely stunning piece of artistry.
How closely do you work with the other creative team members and how early do you start the process?
The designs for Treasure Island were completed in July, over 4 months ago, so it’s very nice to be finally in the theatre bringing it to life with a full team of such talented creatives.
Even after 25 years of designing it still amazes me to see the design go from a 1:25 scale miniature model in my studio to a perfect full size replica in the theatre. What an honour to have the weird and wonderful things of your imagination brought so vividly to life.
What do you love about your job?
I think the best part of my job is the variation. I’m lucky enough to work across theatre, musicals, dance, opera and television. No job is ever the same so I never get bored. It’s not quite as glamorous as it might look though - I get very little time off - and not much sleep!
Is there one designer (or design) who inspired you?
I remember as a very small child going on a schools backstage tour of the Royal Opera House. When we were taken into the Model Makers Room with all the beautiful scale models being created I think my fate was sealed. I’m still amazed, all these many years later, I’ve somehow managed to make a career out of it.
