STUDENTS from The Northern School of Art have been using their creative talents to help produce a children’s creative play installation - on dry land.

The School’s Production Design degree students have used their theatre and film set design skills to work with children’s theatre company, Theatre Hullabaloo, on its newest creative play installation, Deep Sea Adventures at The Hullabaloo in Darlington

Devised and designed by scenographer and researcher Roma Patel, the new installation in the Creative Play Space at The Hullabaloo is designed to be an interactive voyage of discovery and is aimed at young children aged from a few months to eight years old.

Featuring coral reefs to crawl on and mysterious caves to explore, children will also encounter giant fish which are not quite what they seem.

The eye-catching shoal was all crafted by The Northern School of Art students, who are on the School’s BA (Hons) Production Design for Stage and Screen degree programme at its Hartlepool university-level campus.

Following a visit and talk at the school in October delivered by Roma, the students got to work making over twenty sea creatures.

After making a wire frame, the students experimented with a range of materials to create the desired luminous effect for the fish and jelly fish.

Second year Production Design degree student Davi Johan-Singh, from Lincolnshire said: “We finally settled on party-wrapping paper which created the look we wanted and was also very cost effective.”

Her fellow student Annabel Jollands, also from Lincolnshire, said: “The most difficult part was getting the structure to stay together.

"This project has certainly taught me a lot about the practical side of creating props and turning a design into reality.”

Roma Patel was delighted with the finished product, adding: “The fishes are wonderful and they light really well, they are definitely an asset to the installation.”

The Deep Sea Adventures project is part of an ongoing collaboration between Theatre Hullaballoo and the Production Design degree programme.

Miranda Thain, Artistic Producer at Theatre Hullaballoo said: “We are delighted with the work that students from the Northern School of Art have produced for our latest Creative Play Installation, Deep Sea Adventures.

"Creative Play is a core part of our offer for families at The Hullabaloo and its brilliant to see so many visitors coming to play as a free drop-in activity.

"We are proud to work with such a talented team of young people and know that their wonderful sea creatures will inspire the many children who come to play at The Hullabaloo”