How does the work of designers for performance traditions differ from those of interpretive ...

Designers in performance traditions are often master artisans. They do not create new costumes and sets for a particular production based on their own unique interpretation. Instead, they find craftspeople who build the sets, props, masks, and costumes, bringing the visual elements of living traditions to the stage. In performance traditions, masterful execution of established designs is of greater value than originality. Designers in the interpretive tradition imagine the world of the stage afresh for each new production, so we may attend different productions of the same play and be constantly surprised by the visual and sound design. Designers work unfettered by tradition and are limited only by their own imaginations and the practicalities of the stage.