An Underwater Theatre in Bali: The Making of Varuna

Inside Varuna (2023) at Bali Safari & Marine Park, Gianyar — Indonesia's first underwater theatrical show and dining experience, staged against a 6×12-metre aquarium wall, with set design by Patrick Larsen, Studio Bound.

Varuna opened in December 2023 at Bali Safari & Marine Park in Gianyar. It was billed as Indonesia's first underwater theatrical show and dining experience. I did the set design. The backdrop is a giant living aquarium, which I'd never designed against before.

A wall of water as a backdrop

The defining piece is a roughly 6-by-12-metre aquarium glass wall behind the stage — real water, real fish. Designing around a tank like that is its own thing. The set has to frame and complement it, survive the humidity, hold sightlines around a water feature, work cleanly with projection and lighting, and still build a believable undersea world for performers to live in front of.

Jellyfish chandeliers and a luminous aquarium wall behind dancers, with a performer riding a seahorse-puppet on stage. — The show is staged against a roughly 6×12-metre aquarium glass wall — real water and marine life behind the action — knitted together with projection, jellyfish chandeliers and physical set. Set design by Patrick Larsen, Studio Bound.

A myth and a message

Peter Wilson directs. The story follows a young ocean guardian protecting the marine world — Balinese myth and conservation in one. The design has to carry meaning, not just spectacle. The undersea world has to feel like it's worth saving.

Towering crimson sea-serpent puppet with glowing yellow eyes looming over a lone warrior on stage. — Varuna follows a young ocean guardian protecting the marine world from a monstrous threat — Balinese myth and conservation woven into a single dramatic image. Set design by Patrick Larsen, Studio Bound.

Balinese craft, modern stagecraft

Varuna is a fusion piece. Over thirty dancers and musicians share the space with mermaid performers, traditional Balinese wayang kulit (shadow puppetry) and large-scale projection mapping. Balinese master Made Sidia was a creative collaborator, alongside designer Craig Gamble, lighting designer Tom Willis and composer Elwin Hendrijanto. My set had to hold all of it — elastic enough for an intimate shadow-play and a high aerial sequence on the same stage.

Balinese dancers in headdresses perform under a giant moon, flanked by sculpted stilt houses. — More than thirty dancers and musicians share the space with mermaid performers and Balinese wayang kulit — traditional craft and modern stagecraft on the same stage.

Creature puppets — a giant painted crab, a turtle and a seahorse on a Segway base — built for Varuna at Bali Safari & Marine Park. — Hand-built creature puppets — crab, turtle and seahorse — extend the undersea world out from the tank and into the audience. Studio Bound, Varuna, Bali Safari & Marine Park.

A theatre and a restaurant

You don't just watch Varuna. You eat inside it. The venue had to work as a restaurant and a theatre at once, with sightlines to both the stage and the tank from every seat. That dual brief shaped the geometry of the whole room.

Bamboo-arched Varuna entrance at Bali Safari & Marine Park, with venue and dining terraces alongside the aquarium theatre. — Varuna is staged as a combined theatrical show and dining experience — the venue is designed so every seat reads both stage and tank. Bali Safari & Marine Park, Gianyar.

Why it's in the portfolio

Varuna is one of the more unusual jobs I've done. The same year I was working in a stadium I was building a small underwater theatre in Bali. The work isn't about a signature look — it's about solving the room you're given.