The Kismet-ology of Kendall

Spotlight on Kendall Bas Sison by Lauren Noble

The luminary and the lamp.

The very first interaction I had with Kendall was in October 2023 after I had posted something about scenic design to my Instagram stories and noticed someone from Dubai with upwards of 100k followers had liked the sentiment. After realising that this individual was a designer for theatre and high-end performing arts events based right here in the UAE, I asked whether he would be interested in meeting me for an interview for #collabinconvo. Imagine my surprise when he not only answered me himself with no airs or graces, but said he would love to participate as soon as he was back in the country after some international projects wrapped up. And that was the beginning of an online conversation that lasted over a year of back and forth, because every time we made a plan to meet, one of us or both of us would have something unique, exciting or just plain necessary getting in the way! Such is the life of an artist who expends energy and effort where the work demands. It was in early June of this year that we finally got in touch again, and I asked Kendall if he would be available to attend our networking night for Checkmate the Musical as an honorary industry insight guest. What a fabulous feeling to be able to shake the hand of the ever-elusive Kendall Bas Sison at last! There was no time to stop and breathe that evening - let alone chat - as our version of The Mad Hatter's tea party was about to begin. With both of us revelling in the supercharged atmosphere of the site-specific artistic installations, immersive staged show and a lively blend of local and international guests in the audience, I just knew that we needed to book that interview in again as soon as possible. And that is how I came to learn about the timing of the universe and the kismet-ology of Kendall...

There is something quietly magnetic about Kendall. He moves through and occupies space in the most unassuming manner, especially for someone who has amassed a following and accelerated a career as remarkably as he has. It is a very unique characteristic within the landscape of theatricality and events in the UAE where those seen as the most successful are often the most bombastic in the room. But not Kendall. I scan the restaurant, looking for him at every table and suddenly hear my name, realising that he has completely changed his hair colour since I saw him a few weeks back. The silvery hue makes me smile as I am reminded of his consummate creativity being one of the aspects of his social media presence that most excited me about this interview. We order coffees and jump right in as I ask him about his childhood, discovering that he is from one of those expat families who has been embedded in the fabric of the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern kingdoms and countries for over 30 years. Kendall was born and spent much of his childhood in the Philippines where his love of storytelling and aesthetics was readily seen in his love of arts and crafts but also in his ability to design for local events like the Nativity play at his family church and even a few pageants here and there. It was during this time that Kendall was actually pursuing what others might call a more academically-inclined career in psychology. I am immediately interested to hear how studying the psyche has influenced Kendall to be more holistic artist - something which I believe to be true of all artists who have delved headlong into spaces that are not considered artistic within their own journey towards discovering the true nature of their own artistry. And for Kendall, that discovery was accelerated by his decision to use the assortment of projects, productions and pageants that he had designed whilst pursuing his psychology studies to apply for a scholarship to study Production Design at the prestigious School of Design and Arts at De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde in Manila.

"I think I'm just lucky that I got accepted! The opportunity to be mentored by other creative people who understood the artistic mindset which, in turn, supported me to become even more artistic."

Kendall poses with one of his creations during his time as resident head scenographer for theatre productions under the Office of Culture and Arts in Manila.

Kendall credits this period of his career in Manila as one of the most kismetic of his life because it seemed, with so many random happenstances, that he was in the right place at the right time with the right people. That idea is hammered home for me when Kendall explains that he skipped some of his classes on the very first day of school to visit a nearby organisation that produced theatre. I shake my head and laugh at the audacity but - truthfully - this attitude is one I find most charming in young creatives inside my drama classroom. The doers who are also the dreamers. They ask what could be and then they question why it is not but also how it might be in future. And this is exactly how Kendall came to graduate with a degree which encompassed the entire creative process of both theatrical and cinematic storytelling, not to mention a role as resident head scenographer for theatre productions under the Office of Culture and Arts in Manila. Not bad for someone so young! Kismet? Oh, yes. Fought for? Absolutely.

Before I move on, I ask Kendall what it was that had changed within him to throw such caution to the wind when he was already on such a different career path. The conversation moves to a source of sadness and strength as he speaks with fondness of his father who passed when Kendall was only 15 years old. He chuckles as he explains that his father was entirely unsure of what exactly it was that Kendall was actually aiming for with his creativity and curiosity as a child, but how that never prevented him from being Kendall's loudest and proudest supporters.

I think at a very young age I understood what craftsmanship was and, although my father didn't understand everything that I meant when I spoke about it, he saw how much I loved creating.

One of the most significant moments in Kendall's career involves his first design for a theatrical production which told the story of the director he was working with at the time. The hybridisation of fact and fiction, clear and complicated, idea and imagination... and all made possible because of the demands of the art form.

We enter into a tangential conversation about what an amazing anomaly Kendall's father was to be advocating for his son to pursue something artistic that he himself did not understand in an educational culture that, even to this day, glorifies academic pursuits as valid only when they are anti-artistic. This fight is one which those of us in arts education have heard countless times and causes many of us to become less passive in our advocacy of the power and potential of the arts as a tangible toolkit for all careers and - most importantly, given the current state of our world - for all humans to access more readily. The still-mischaracterised skills that the humanities and liberal arts offer us in abundance are in obvious deficit not only in school classrooms and university lecture halls, but in multiple professional industries around the world, and not just the creative ones. Empathy. Critical thinking. Curiosity. Resourcefulness. Ensemble ethics. Broader perspectives. Compassion. Organisation. Confidence. Resilience. In short, concepts that can very easily be plugged into artificial intelligence frameworks but which yield results that lack the refinement of inherently knowing these skills body, mind and soul because they are the exact skills that are so heavily relied on in the processes, products and performances that happen organically within the arts.

The years pass within Kendall's story until something completely unexpected occurs (again!) and he is asked to submit his most recent slate of projects for World Stage Design. For those of us in the industry here in the UAE, this global exhibition should be at the forefront of our minds as Sharjah Performing Arts Academy and OISTAT gear up to host the only designer-based exhibition to showcase and celebrate performance design from individual designers in October this year. Kendall recalls the shock of being asked to present his university work and effectively share the stage with his own mentors who were three generations ahead of him in terms of career and experience. The WSD took place in Moscow that year, and Kendall smiles wryly as he says since presenting internationally for the very first time, his work has actually travelled more than he has. But travel he did! Eventually finding his way to the Middle East where his work as the resident designer for La Perle began.

"La Perle features a breathtaking fusion of immersive artistic performances, imagery, and technology. La Perle is influenced by Dubai’s rich culture, vibrant present and aspirational future, which is brought to life by awe-inspiring stunts and special effects that will leave viewers speechless." - excerpt from the ABOUT US section on the La Perle website

Kendall in the workshop, working on the finishing touches for the revamped costume for The Opera Singer. Do yourselves a favour and check out the 360° video (here) which showcases the final product.

La Perle has been a fundamental feature within the performing arts scene of Dubai since 2017 with multiple iterations of aquatically themed stories taking place in a bespoke theatre Al Habtoor City. The way Kendall describes his years with the company feel like a masterclass in what it is to marry the aspirations of artistry with the demands of a world-class commercial entity with a history in this region. As the resident designer in a premier circus space such as this, Kendall embraced the challenge of keeping the phenomenally high-energy and visually spectacular show fresh for audiences who are invited to return again and again to experience something new. I am intrigued by how he was able to navigate this proverbial tightrope-walk as he worked to revise the aesthetics of such a popular production. “For me, the most important thing is you need to go back to the soul.” he says, simply. Kendall immediately engaged in conversations with everyone from the creator and the crew to the acrobats and the aerialists, listening especially closely to those he considers his upline in an extremely abstract sense that sometimes confused those who were his actual upline. Why? Because Kendall used his knowledge of theatre craft to amplify the voices of those who have the right to the loudest response: the audience. I smile as I hear Kendall talk me through how he kickstarted his own revisions for the show, mentioning two aspects I love to workshop with my own students when we delve into the idea of concept creation: word associations and musical evocations.

"The King of La Perle is a figure of enigmatic grandeur. In his world, the extraordinary is the norm, and through his vibrant eccentricity, he reigns supreme not just over a kingdom, but over the imagination of all who witness his reign." Kendall's detailed descriptions of iconic pieces from his portfolio are available on Instagram for the world to see. Using social media to showcase aspects of the design process and final product invite us into these unique worlds and are all part of his inclination to educate.

A significant element that also defined Kendall's tenure at La Perle was his quiet but consistent commitment to education. Kendall understood that many of the performers came from athletic rather than theatrical backgrounds and took it upon himself to help bridge that gap through his designs and the concepts that underpinned them. “You are teaching former gymnasts to be theatre actors,” he explains. “They already have the most amazing abilities, but there are very few professionals who can teach that type of theatrical mindset within the circus industry unless that has been their journey too.” For him, the role he found himself in at La Perle extended beyond creating costumes. It became an act of mentorship, sharing a theatrical language that could enhance a performer’s stage presence and storytelling power. He also sought to teach the craft associated with the fabric and textiles required for this production to tailors who had never worked on a show of this calibre before. In teaching his team in such detail, he was also able to champion sustainability in costume design for a production that runs year-round. This meant ensuring that each design choice respected both the aesthetic integrity of the show and the practical longevity of materials, proving that sustainability and spectacle could co-exist in a way that served the performers, the audience, and the production equally. By cultivating a deeper understanding within the team, Kendall helped reinforce the artistic core of the show, making it not just a feat of athleticism but a truly theatrical experience. And perhaps that is where Kendall’s story circles back on itself and into the realm of kismet.

Kismet (noun) - a hypothetical force or personified power that determines the course of the future events; from qismah or qismat - portion, lot, fate.

His tenure at La Perle feels like a fated alignment of all the skills he had set about acquiring since childhood, his conviction for his craft which was honed through pedagogy and professional projects in Manila, and yet another unique international opportunity to draw on his plethora of experience to educate and elucidate so viscerally. What feels like an invisible thread woven through the fabric of his life is quite inexplicable when you view it in its entirety, with so many examples of his being in the right place, at the right time, and with the right people. And so it should come as no surprise that I cannot wait to see what the kismet-ology of Kendall catalyses for him - and for those in his orbit - in the very near future.

For more about Kendall Bas Sison and his exploration of all things aesthetic, please check out his official website here and give him a follow on Instagram.

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© Lauren Noble for Collab Company | 2025

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