Varuna, which opened at Bali Safari Park in 2023, is often described by what it is: Indonesia's first underwater theatre, and a dinner show where guests eat inside the performance. This piece is about something less visible — the breadth of the role Studio Bound held on it.
On many productions, the design studio is one specialist among many. On Varuna, the remit was unusually wide. Patrick joined the project — directed by Peter Wilson and produced by Taman Safari Indonesia — as co-writer, creative director, and set and costume designer. That combination, from the shaping of the story through to the clothing on the performers, is what gives the show its coherence.
One vision across four responsibilities
When the writing, the creative direction, the set and the costumes run through a single designer, the production gains a kind of internal consistency that is difficult to achieve by coordination alone. A choice made in the narrative can be carried, without translation loss, into the architecture of the space and the silhouettes on stage. The show reads as one continuous idea rather than a set of well-executed but separate departments.
The name reflects that intent. Varuna is the deity of the waters in Hindu tradition, and the show is built from a classic Balinese fantasy — the story, the environment and the wardrobe all drawn from the same source rather than assembled from unrelated references.
Designing for a living stage
Varuna is not an entirely built illusion. It incorporates a back-wall aquarium with marine life and live mermaid performers in water, which raises the standard for everything around them. Set and costume elements are designed to sit convincingly beside genuine water and genuine movement — to belong to the same world rather than compete with it.
The costume work in particular was shaped by the show's unusual lighting environment. Wardrobe on Varuna performs under the shifting, blue-toned light of an underwater setting, frequently against glass and beside performers in water. Materials, finishes and silhouettes were selected for how they behave in that specific medium and in continuous motion — and to hold up under nightly performance, as a permanent installation requires.
Part of a wider partnership
Varuna is one strand of Studio Bound's ongoing partnership with Taman Safari Indonesia, the country's largest park operator — work that also includes the Lila show at the Enchanting Valley park in Bogor and the entrance experience at Bali Marine Park. Across these projects, the pattern is consistent: a single design vision carried from concept through to the details an audience feels but never consciously notices.
About Patrick Larsen
Patrick Larsen is an Emmy Award–winning production designer and the founder of Studio Bound, a Singapore studio working across immersive experiences, themed attractions, live shows, ceremonies and broadcast design. In partnership with Taman Safari Indonesia he co-wrote, creative-directed and designed the sets and costumes for the underwater dinner show Varuna in Bali. Over more than two decades he has designed for the Expo 2020 Dubai ceremonies, Olympic broadcasts, Las Vegas residencies, and resident shows across Asia and the Middle East.