Six Designs That Dazzled: Shoebox Theatre 2025

Following the announcement of our winners earlier this week, we are delighted to share the six outstanding model boxes that have received special commendations in this year’s #ShoeboxTheatre2025 competition!

This year saw an incredible number of international entries — our most global and competitive year yet. The judges were so impressed by the thought, creativity, and craftsmanship that went into every submission. These six designs stood out for their originality, storytelling, and inventive use of materials. Each one shows a deep understanding of how design can transform a performance space and capture the essence of a story.

All six young designers will receive a certificate of special commendation to recognise their exceptional achievement.

1. Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker

Joseph Sherlock, 17

Queen Mary’s High School

What Joseph said about his design:

“Our Country’s Good is based on a book about the first settlements of British convicts in Australia. I decided to make the stage very minimal, with every set being made up of props that are brought on an off of stage, and by having a projected scene title at the forefront. Furthermore, I used lighting to portray the setting and time in the scenes; for example, the stark blue lighting representing their journey to Australia on the boat, or the hazy yellow depicting the harsh heat of the country.”

What judge Sam Beal says about the design:

“I really like the simplicity of this design. It's minimal but very evocative and makes a great canvas for lighting to change the scene.”

2. The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie

Evelina Grace Tkachenko, 12 years old

Wellington College Shanghai

What Evelina said about her design:“My design is based on a classic Agatha Christy play 'The Mousetrap'. When I saw the play in the West End, I fell in love with the set, so when I saw the competition, I knew I had to recreate the set. I mostly used cardboard, but also covered some parts in clay and a 3d pen for the fire. I used some wooden toothpicks for the armchair by the fire. To add colour, I used POSCA pens only. I also installed curtains using my old leggings, too! I love how it turned out and am so proud of my design and the effort I put into it to make my mini stage come alive!”

What judge Grace Venning says about the design:

“Excellent model making skills, particularly the furniture - it's not easy at all to make furniture from scratch, with a fantastic sense of scale in relation to the whole set.”

3. Phantom of the Opera The Musical

Kirsty Gu, 13 years old

Shanghai Wellington College

What Kirsty said about her design:

“The chosen design for the shoebox theatre I chose is the Phantom Of The Opera, more specifically, the boat scene in the movie. I choose this scene because it is one of my favourite scenes in the movie and it is also quite iconic from the old HollyWood known worldwide so I tried to replicate the scene but add in my own twist for the set pieces to make it feel more magical though I only have limited materials at home so I tried to really show my creativity through my imagination, passion and love for theatre.”

What judge Grace Venning says about the design:

“A feast for the eyes, this design provides the opulent beauty required by the story and is very impressive given that it has all been made from scratch.”

What judge Sam Beal says about the design:

“The texture and materials used here are very evocative, it reminds me of a venetian puppet show! I also like how the model suggests how the stage would move across the stage on a track, with moving waves.”

4. SpongeBob The Musical

Sherry Cao (16), Lea Jiang (15)

Wellington College, Shanghai

What Sherry & Lea said about their design:

“For our set design, we have created a scene from SpongeBob SquarePants, capturing the iconic pineapple home in which SpongeBob resides, and the widely recognized scenery of underwater city ‘Bikini Bottom’. To make our project more impactful, we have decided to include plastic waste into the design, reflecting the serious environmental consequences of plastic pollution in the ocean, currently estimated to having around 75 to 199 million tons of waste. Thus, all the components from our set is also made from recycled materials, collected from packaging, old books and other sources and no extra cost was spent.”

What judge Grace Venning says about the design:

“Spectacularly well-made and a brilliant use of plastic materials to highlight the issue of pollution in our oceans. Excellent use of lighting too.”

5. The Lion King

Mia Paparozzi, 12 years old

Rama Life Home School

What Mia said about her design:

“I was inspired by the stage musical The Lion King and chose the jungle scene in my shoe box design. I used different shades of blue and green to bring the river, trees and plants to life and added leaves to make it more realistic. I used real stones and pebbles to represent the riverbed and to add a different layer of texture to my shoe box. For further texture I also included grains of sand/gravel on my riverbed which was extended to the apron of my shoebox. The natural colours I used were chosen to represent a calming and natural scene within the African jungle.”

What judge Grace Venning says about the design:

“Lovely use of natural materials and adaptation of the shoe box to make a curved thrust stage.”

6. Matilda The Musical

JaeIn Park (Jane), 12 years old

BIS Ho Chi Minh

What Jaeln said about her design:

“I saw Matilda the Musical last year in London, and I instantly fell in love with it. The show was funny, exciting and full of energy. I was amazed by the songs and the way the story came to life on stage. And that’s why I created a mini shoebox theatre for my favorite musical of all time: Matilda!The Musical is a brilliant masterpiece that’s filled with mischief, magic, and care. Based on Roald Dahl’s beloved novel, it follows the story of Matilda—a bright, book loving girl with telekinetic powers, who refuses to be silenced by the adults. From the chaos of her neglectful parents to the oppressive headmistress Miss Trunchbull, Matilda’s world is one of unfairness and absurdity. But through courage, and a touch of rebellion, she transforms her fate. I think the musical is all about imagination, resilience, and the power of standing up for what’s right.”

What judge Sam Beal says about the design:

“Shows really impressive and neat model making techniques, and it's a nice evolution of the existing Matilda design, great work!”

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If you would like to run Shoebox Theatre this academic year with your students, all of the resources are available to download here: https://www.weteachdrama.com/shoebox

The next Competition will open in March 2026 and will close in September.

Sign up to our newsletter to find out first when we will be running CPD on Shoebox Theatre, set design and model-making: https://www.weteachdrama.com/get-the-password