ANNA CORDINGLEY

​Designer 
​

Anna Cordingley is an award-winning set and costume designer for theatre, opera, dance, musical theatre and cabaret whose designs have been seen by audiences throughout Australia, Europe, Britain and the United States.  She also designs exhibitions and events; and creates public art and installation.

Theatre designs include: for Red Line and Sydney Opera House, AMADEUS; for Melbourne Theatre Company, SUNDAY, STORM BOY (with Queensland Theatre), ABIGAIL’S PARTY sets, JASPER JONES design, DEATH AND THE MAIDEN costumes (with Sydney Theatre Company); for Bell Shakespeare, ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRA, RICHARD III, ROMEO & JULIET, TARTUFFE, PHEDRE, MACBETH, JULIUS CAESAR; for Sydney Festival, HOLDING ACHILLES (with Legs on the Wall & Dead Puppet Society) RAPTURE (with Turning World) MEOW MEOW'S LITTLE MERMAID (with Malthouse, tour to Edinburgh Festival 2017) and MEOW MEOW'S LITTLE MATCH GIRL (with Malthouse), MASQUERADE (with Griffin & State Theatre Company of South Australia), FRANK WOODLEY’S INSIDE; for Melbourne Festival, M+M, THE BLACK ARM BAND'S HIDDEN REPUBLIC; for Malthouse, HOUR OF THE WOLF, ANNA K, THE BLOODY CHAMBER, A GOLEM STORY, THE STORY OF MARY MACLANE BY HERSELF (with Griffin), 'TIS A PITY SHE'E A WHORE, ELIZABETH – ALMOST BY CHANCE A WOMAN, SAPPHO IN NINE FRAGMENTS, FURIOUS MATTRESS, ONE NIGHT THE MOON, KNIVES IN HENS (with STCSA), HAPPY DAYS (with Belvoir), A COMMERCIAL FARCE, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED and NOT LIKE BECKETT; for Back to Back Theatre Co, MULTIPLE BAD THINGS which opened at Back to Back Theatre, toured to Malthouse and Brussels’ Kunstenfestivaldesarts.

Opera credits include: for Opera Australia, IDOMENEO (with Victorian Opera), THE MAGIC FLUTE, CARMEN, AIDA, Opera on the Beach (costume); for Victorian Opera, CASSANDRA, ECHO & NARCISSIS, SALOME (costume), SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and THE THREEPENNY OPERA (with Sydney Theatre Company and Malthouse); for Opera Queensland, DON GIOVANNI; for Melbourne Festival, RICHTER/MEINHOF OPERA.  Her work on Opera Australia and Victorian Opera’s acclaimed production of IDOMENEO tours to San Francisco Opera in 2025.

Anna’s dance credits include TIME PORTRAIT for Lee Serle, AN ACT OF NOW and CONNECTED for Chunky Move including European tour; HUMAN INTEREST STORY for Lucy Guerin inc.; and PUCK for Rogue/Malthouse.  

Exhibition designs include VICTOR HUGO: LES MISERABLES - FROM PAGE TO STAGE at State Library of Victoria, STAGE PRESENCE: THE EXTRAORDINARY SHAPES OF GEOFFREY RUSH, WAR HORSE & THE BREATH OF LIFE at Melbourne Arts Centre; AN ACCOUNT OF BRIDGES at Baltic Contemporary Art Centre (UK).

Anna’s installation and public art credits include THE LETTER PROJECT for White Night Melbourne; numerous projects in France and the United Kingdom for BAMBUCO and facilitation for Brook Andrew’s THE HAGUE SCULPTURE DE OVERKANT/DOWNUNDER, The Netherlands.  

Anna was a principal member of the set, costume, and projection design team for Melbourne Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

Anna won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Costume Design for her collaboration with Romance Was Born for AMADEUS, a Helpmann Award for Best Set Design for JASPER JONES and has won two Green Room Awards for Best Design.  She received an Australian Production Design Guild Award nomination for best set design for her work on JASPER JONES and has been nominated for numerous Helpmann Awards, Sydney Theatre Awards and Green Room Awards. She is a recipient of the Kristian Fredrikson Memorial Scholarship for Design and the John Vickery Scholarship.  

Anna is a design graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts and has a Master of Curatorship from The University of Melbourne, where she is a current PhD Candidate.
 
Anna is the Acting Head of Design and Production, the Associate Director of Learning and Teaching, and a Senior Lecturer in Design at The University of Melbourne, Faculty of the VCA & Music, and the Design Akademie Berlin SRH Hochschule für Kommunikation und Design.
 
View Anna’s designs at annacordingley.com.au