To mark the Australian premiere of HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2, Rizer Global engaged us to transform Sydney’s heritage-listed State Theatre into the series’ overgrown, post-apocalyptic world.
We supplied and dressed the greenery and natural scenic materials from our own stock, pre-weathering select elements during prep so the set felt established rather than freshly installed. The State Theatre’s heritage listing required particular care in how the dressing was planned, installed and removed. We worked closely with Rizer’s creative team and the Art Department throughout, including planning and trialling key elements in our workshop during pre-production.
On Market Street, an abandoned wreck was worked into the streetscape as though it had been sitting there for years. Vines threaded throughout the car, while grasses, rock, rubble, broken concrete and layers of dry leaf litter settled it into its surroundings.
Along the red carpet, large shrubs framed the entrances. At the media walls, the greenery was kept lower and more restrained, with creeping vines and ground cover positioned to keep branding and camera sightlines clear.
Inside, the scale and density of the greenery increased. Monsteras, ferns and other foliage built layers and depth around furniture, props and architectural details, while vines and moss climbed the staircases and balustrades, carrying the overgrowth through the interior.
Image: Byron Martin
Image: Byron Martin
Image: Byron Martin
In the auditorium, wild growth moved through the proscenium, seating and gilded side grilles, continuing across a mound of broken theatre chairs.
Image: Byron Martin
The finished environment transformed one of Sydney’s most recognisable historic interiors into the overgrown, post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us.
Creative & Production: Rizer Global
Art Director: Jamie Morris