Designing Art
Miguel Urbino brings his distinctive vision to Yasmina Reza’s Tony and Olivier Award-winning comedy ART, seamlessly blending scenic and costume design to illuminate the intricate connections between friendship and modern art.
Words Bridgette Yutuc
Photos courtesy of Miguel Urbino and Ana Dratz
June 9, 2025
“It’s quite bold for a work of art to call itself that, but Art is a fitting title for this play,” said Miguel Urbino, costume and scenic designer for Tony and Olivier Award-winning comedy ART.
Miguel Urbino is a London-based, Filipino-American designer for stage. He collaborated with an array of theatre companies, award-winning designers, and Broadway and West End shows in a variety of capacities.
This time, Urbino joins the production team of ART as it makes its Repertory Philippines (REP) stage debut. ART is a highly acclaimed comedy by French playwright Yasmin Reza, directed by Victor Lirio and translated by Christopher Hampton. It revolves around the intersection of art and friendship, centering on three long-time friends—Serge (Sarreal), Marc (Sawyer), and Yvan (Sy).
Tension sparks when Serge, embracing his love for modern art, acquires a large, expensive, completely white painting. The play probes the deeper question of how we assign value—not just to objects and art, but to the relationships that define us.
Lirio imagines the story unfolding in a grand setting reminiscent of the Palais Brongniart (also known as the Palais de Bourse) in Paris, France, a neoclassical building and a landmark monument of Parisian economic heritage, built by the architect Brongniart. It houses a gallery devoted to the stock market, magnifying its role in the economy. Thus, the play’s architectural details evoke the spirit of the building.
“... With a play that has a lot of direct address, it felt appropriate to make it more “Brechtian” by adding elements to the design that remind the audience we are in a theatrical space. We did this through visible lighting instruments and creating an area to connect the audience and the stage. As for the theme, the direction in which the design went didn’t need reflection of that necessarily. I think a design should be neutral to properly support the writing, making room for the audience to find their own take away,” Urbino shares with regards to the scenic elements of the production.
“The play does ask for a living room set. However, that isn’t necessarily where Victor and I started. We approached the play knowing we wanted a fluid space. I try to not design with the primary goal of being visually engaging, but rather what serves the specific production’s needs. The visual curation and composition comes later,” Urbino adds.
When asked how the costumes in ART capture the personalities and internal conflicts of the three main characters, Urbino expresses his initial mindset of playing pretend: “How would I dress if I were these people?”
“There is the part where I am designing for the characters and their specific personalities, but I also take into consideration the performer playing the role and what their motivation could be.”
Urbino delved into fashion trends that would resonate with the three main characters’ gender, socio-economic status, orientation, region and background. “For example, Yvan is a practical man. He wears a suit out of purpose, but he still cares about how he looks. Serge is probably the trendiest of the three, and Marc thinks he is trendy, even though his fashion is actually very behind-with-the-times.”
The designer shared a snippet of the show he was excited about, when the design of the set and costumes play a subtle yet essential role in storytelling—simple in execution, yet rich in impact.
Urbino mentioned ART's distinctive aspect compared to other productions he had worked with. “I was excited about the contemporary aspect of our production. It’s one thing to place yourself in another period, or in a locale you’ve never been to, which has its own elements of excitement of course, but in this case, living in the time period I’m designing, and now living in Europe (and having visited Paris previously) allows for a level of immersion that is a treat for me as a designer. It’s also been a few years since I’ve designed costumes alongside the set so I was very excited to stretch those muscles again.”
He also shared how collaborating with The Bridge Project has been an incredibly enriching experience. Working across continents to bring something tangible to life comes with challenges, but the designer is delighted with the team’s support and dedication in realizing the vision of ART.
The highly anticipated production is set to run from June 13 to 29. Audiences can catch evening performances every Friday and Saturday at 8PM, with Saturday matinees at 3:30 PM. All performances will be held at the newly inaugurated REP Eastwood Theater in Quezon City.
