MFA Stage Design Graduates: Where Are They Now?
Check in on our past MFA in Stage Design (Set, Costume and/or Lighting), as we capture just a few highlights of their careers since graduating from The Lir Academy!
Our MFA in Stage Design graduates follow all types of different pathways - some some are costume designers, others create sets, lighting designers and technicians, working across stage and screen.
Chrysi Chatzivasileiou (2023)
The Rising of the Moon, Bewley's Café Theatre. Image by Al Craig, 2024
Chrysi Chatzivasileiou has worked across costume and set design since graduating. Her recent credits include Set Designer for The Rising of the Moon and Of a Midnight Meeting at Bewley’s Café Theatre, Costume and Set Designer for The Wonderful World of Dissocia at Smock Alley Theatre / DYT, and was assistant Set Designer on The Gate’s production of The Loved Ones, touring in 2025.
Chrysi returned to The Lir Academy as Costume Designer of our 2024 Gradfest production of Bent and in 2025 she was selected as a mentee for the ISPD Design Mentorship Pilot Programme.
Ronan Duffy (2023)
'The Merchant of Venice' by William Shakespeare, Mill Theatre Dundrum, Directed by Geoff O'Keeffe. Photo by Declan Brennan, 2025
Since graduating Ronan has returned to the Lir to professionally Stage Design shows including Bent, The Government Inspector, Absolute Hell and Eurydice. He has designed shows for dlr Mill Theatre Dundrum such as The Merchant of Venice (2025), King Lear (2024) and Jack and the Beanstalk (2024). In 2023 he designed for Livin’ Dred Theatre Company National Tour of Super-Bogger by award-winning writer Clare Monnelly. He is Assistant Set Designer for the Irish National Opera’s upcoming touring production of Fledermaus.
Juliana Schmidt Tomazini (2022)
'DOG SH!T' by Bellaray Bertrand-Webb. Dublin Fringe Festival, 2023
Since graduating, Juliana has been the costume designer in two shows during the Scene + Heard festival: Fusion Murga, a flamboyant, satirical, musical comedy; and The Wholly Divided Trinity Conspiracy of Queen Elizabeth (Near Dublin) - Act 1 a musical with two friends, two timelines, one all-powerful wizard and one magical trolley. She has also worked on a promenade immersive show for An Tain Arts Centre and was an assisting costume maker for Tartuffe at the Abbey Theatre. Other credits include Dog Shit (Dublin Fringe Festival 2023, The New Theatre), The Big Reel an Irish Tour supported by an ArtsCouncil Dance Project Award 2022-23, Fusion Murga (Scene+Heard 2023, Smock Alley Theatre).
In 2024 Juliana was Costume Designer for Suckin Diesel at Dublin Fringe Festival, My Sister in this House at The Lir Academy, and the short film The Knife which premiered at the Dublin Internationsl Film Festival, presented by Virgin Media Discovers and Keeper Picturesby, written and directed by MFA Directing graduate Joy Nesbitt.
Toni Bailey (2022)
'BOYFRIENDS' by Ultan Pringle, presented by LemonSoap Productions. Image by Owen Clarke, 2024
Toni went straight from working as Costume Designer on Red and Scenes with Girls for the end of year Lir Gradfest productions in 2022, to a placement as an assistant on Heaven, for Fishamble Theatre Company. She then worked as a maker and dresser on the Irish National Opera's William Tell in The Gaiety Theatre. She was delighted to be accepted onto Rough Magic’s SEEDS program and as part of that designed the brand-new play, Piglet by Ultan Pringle for The New Theatre. She simultaneously designed The Importance of Being Earnest, produced by the Leeson Park Players.
Through Rough Magic as a SEED, she was assistant designer on The Loved Ones at The Limetree in Limerick and The Gate Theatre. In 2024 she designed for Happiness Then and The Rising of the Moon at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre, The New Theatre’s Trifled and LemonSoap Production’s BOYFRIENDS at Project Arts Centre and An Grianán.
Sophie Cassidy (2022)
'Belfast Girls' By Jaki McCarrick. An Táin Arts Centre and Quintessence Theatre. Photo by Sean McMahon, 2024
Since graduating, Sophie has been working full time as a freelance lighting designer, technician and theatre maker. They've had the pleasure of designing many exciting works since finishing up in The Lir Academy including: Belfast Girls at An Táin, Lyric, Droichead and Solstice Theatre in 2024, You're Needy (sounds frustrating) by Tasteinyourmouth which performed at the Dublin, Edinburgh and Gothenburg Fringe, Theatre For One: This Ireland by Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals as part of Cork Midsummer Festival 2024.
Sophie is interested in work which pushes the boundaries of form and structure, and speaks to the current social climate. Their other pursuits include production management, youth work, and playwriting, Their play Tech! The Musical was selected by Youth Theatre Ireland as one of the new plays for Playshare 2021, it has since been performed in Drogheda, Dublin and Kildare.
Kevin Murphy (2021)
'Saturation', Dublin Modular, Pepper Canister, Dublin Fringe, 2024.
Kevin Murphy is an award-winning lighting designer. His design credits include The Merchant of Venice (dlr Mill Theatre Dundrum), SATURATION (Dublin Modular), Malignant Humour (Hannah Gumbrielle), Double Act (Honey & Lemon), Bent (The Lir), Eurydice (The Lir), Dog Shit (Bellaray Bertrand-Webb), Ruining The Act (Emily Kilkenny Roddy), MAY DAY (Holly Furey), AKEDAH (Hampstead Downstairs), The Naughty Fox (Toucan Theatre), Anatomy of a Night (Nick Nikolaou), The Blue House (Helikon Theatre). He was awarded Best Lighting Design for ‘Red Lines’ (Monika Palova & Sean McIlraith) by the 2023 Dublin Fringe Festival.
Recently, Kevin was the Lighting Designer for Curse of the Starving Class at The Lir and was Assistant Lighting Designer for the 2024/2025 production of Emma at the Abbey Theatre.
Israel Del Barco (2020)
WE, the BREATH by Emio Greco and Pieter C Scholten. ICK Amsterdam. Photo by Maarten Nauw, 2024
Since graduating, Israel has been involved on different fronts in lighting for live entertainment. In Ireland, he designed the lighting on a number of productions and has also taught technical drawing with Vectorworks Spotlight for students in the Lir's MFA program. She is currently working as the Lighting Designer for NOUS, le Radeau, directed by Pieter C. Scholten, Emio Greco & Franck Krawczyk, produced by ICK Dans Amsterdam and the Philharmonie de Paris. Having moved to the Netherlands in 2021, he has been involved with designing and technical support for project in the Dutch region.
As a Lighting programmer for lighting and technical production company Stage-Mate his portfolio includes notable works such as the Reisopera's production of Hansel & Gretel, and Abel van Gijlswijk's Wolfgang, het wonderjong and Rebranding Anarchisme. He has toured with original medium-scale musical productions as a lighting swing and worked as a troubleshooter on productions, such as The Tina Turner Musical. He also toured as the chief electrician for the international tour of the dance opera 8:Metamorphosis by Nicole Beutler.
Currently, he is the Assistant Lighting Designer and Chief LX at ICK Dans Amsterdam, including working on WE, the BREATH by Emio Greco and Pieter C Scholten, which is touring in 2025.
Blue Hanley (2019)
'Eleanora Salter and the Monster from the Sea' Dublin Fringe Fest 2021, directed by Lir Graduate Katie O'Halloran. Photo by Lou R. Dunne.
Blue Hanley is currently Head of Lighting at The Lir Academy and her design work includes The Abbey, Asylum Productions, Big Telly NI, and An Taibhdhearc; and work as a technician for axis, Druid, The Gate, and the Town Hall Theatre Galway.
Blue also had designs in the 2021 and 2023 Dublin Fringe Fest, as well as the Galway International Arts Festival 2023. Her design work includes The Abbey, Asylum Productions, Big Telly NI, and An Taibhdhearc; and work as a technician for axis, Druid, The Gate, and the Town Hall Theatre Galway. Her recent research focuses on accessibility in theatre.
LaurA Fajardo Castro (2019)
'Afterwards' by Janet Moran, Once Off Productions. Dublin Fringe Festival 2024.
Since graduating, LaurA has been working as costume and set designer in different shows such Amelia at Dublin Theatre Festival 2024, Afterwards at Dublin Fringe Festival 2024, You Belong to Me by Rough Magic, The Visit, Bulrusher and Three Sisters at The Lir Academy, Spear at Dublin Fringe Festival 2023; in dance include: IÓMHÁ by Roisin Whelan, The Ireland we dreamed of by Sinead McCann, The Glasshouse by Roisin Whelan/Ballet Ireland, and more.
LaurA has worked as Assistant/Associate Designer for leading Irish designers Katie Davenport, Aedín Corgrove, Sarah Bacon and Molly O'Cathain on a wide variety of productions. In Bogotá, LaurA worked for 4 years with the theatre company 'Teatro Estudio Uniandes.
She is currently the Secretary of ISPD, Irish Society of Performance Designers and and Associate Artist for Pan Pan Theatre 2024/2025.
Stefi Pantavoυ (2019)
DUREX Digital commercial 2024. Director: Dimitra Babadima D.O.P: Giannis Michelopoulos. Production Company: FILMAKERSHUB EE
Stefi lives and works in Athens and she has been actively involved in the art and costume department for various theatre productions, films and tv commercials.
Some of the notable productions include: Artistic Director for a series of digital commercials for Durex, as well as Greek Moller’s TV spot in 2024. Art director for a short film Arizones, which premiered at the 2023 Drama International Short Film Festival, she had previously worked as a production designer for the short film Homo Perfectus
at DISFF 2022. Stefi had a role in the costume team as a background costumer for the films The Lost Daughter (directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, costume designer Edward Gibbon, 2020) and Rise (directed by Akin Omotoso, costume designer Mobolaji Dawodu, 2021). In 2022, she was part of the art department team as an assistant art director for the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. Her theatre work includes designing the set and props for the plays The Happiest of the Three (Metaxourgeio theatre, Athens 2019) and Macbeth (Apo Mixanis Theatro, Athens 2021).