Tom Stoppard's highly-acclaimed play Arcadia is taking over the Sydney Opera House this February.
His team took a good five weeks to build the entire set envisioned by Michael Scott-Mitchell, one of Australia's leading set designers.
“Every set we build offers its own complexities. For Arcadia the whole set sat on a ramped stage. This meant that the doors on each side wall would want to slam shut!” Shemesh told BuzzFeed.
As the deputy head of set construction for the Sydney Theatre Company, it's Shemesh's job to realise the vision of the production's set designer.
Including getting the colours and textures perfectly.
"Close to 160 litres of paint and texture were used for this production."
Layers and layers of coating went into the pieces to give them the "sandstone finish".
On the left is the designer's model which Shemesh's team used as their go-to reference, and on the right is the finished product lit by stage lights.
In the end, a total of 300 square meters of plywood were used to set the stage for the Sydney production.
"My favourite aspect of a build would be seeing the whole set come together on stage. A lot of work goes into getting it to that point so it can be a satisfying experience."
And his favourite spot to watch the play? From the sidelines.
"My favourite angle to view the Arcadia set is looking across the stage through the side doors. It's a view the public wouldn't get to experience," Shemesh said.