Tony-award winning costume and set designer, Clint Ramos, shares how his love for theatre inspired a career in the arts
It is 9:30pm in New York when Clint Ramos enters into our Zoom meeting. “Sorry, it’s dinnertime around here,” he apologises smiling. I nod. For a man whose career is immersed in the colourful world of theatre, Ramos appears on-screen in a simple black shirt and glasses. His calm demeanour betrays a shyness that is awkward yet endearing. Though he is soft-spoken, it is easy to hear the comforting traces of that distinct Filipino intonation whenever he speaks.
Cebuano designer, Clint Ramos, loves a good story; and his line of work—costume and set design—has allowed him to create fantastic new worlds within the confines of reality.
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“I always think of storytelling as being a ‘container’ and having a ‘contained’,” he begins. “So, we’re all human beings and what contains us is sometimes not a physical walled house. It could be society, it could be marriage, it could be institutions. So design is never fully just about fashion, it’s never fully about architecture. It’s always about you.”
This philosophy has brought Ramos to the prestigious podiums of multiple awards ceremonies, most notably the 2016 Tony Awards, where he won Best Costume Design in a Play for his work in Eclipsed. In his acceptance speech, Ramos said: “The theatre has been my saviour in the darkest, darkest times of my life.”
“I’ve always been yearning for a sense of family,” Ramos now admits, sharing that estrangement served to be a defining impression in his youth. “Even when I was in the Philippines, growing up gay, like a misfit and sort of socially awkward, I didn’t really find a community. It’s always been theatre that felt like a home to me.”
This passion was not mere fleeting fancy; in fact, his love had stemmed from his youth’s experiences geared towards theatre and design. “I went to Philippine Science High School and whenever we put up a show, I was very involved in how to do the sets and conjure up that world. It was cemented when I entered UP [University of the Philippines] because I knew I had a very keen interest in design.” After obtaining his bachelor’s degree, Ramos went on to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at New York University through the Gary Kalkin Memorial Scholarship.