Marg Horwell is increasingly in demand from international luminaries yet maintains her unassuming nature. Deborah Jones talks to the Australian set and costume designer about her career and asks some of her collaborators why she is such a formidable talent.

Marg Horwell. Photo © Bruce Glikas @bruglikas @broadwaybruce

Marg Horwell played Prospero in The Tempest when she was just 14 and Lady Macbeth at 16. True, the scene of her triumphs wasn’t exactly the West End or Broadway, where her costume designs for The Picture of Dorian Gray won her an Olivier Award in 2024 and a Tony this year. Nevertheless, the productions were important in the story of her life.

These were school shows at Wagga Wagga’s Kooringal High; innovative versions of Shakespeare fashioned...