Ickbal has designed more than 60 productions locally, regionally and internationally, at large theater spaces such as the Mark Taper Forum for Center Theater Group in Los Angeles; at premier national venues in Singapore such as the Esplanade Concert Hall and the National Gallery of Singapore; at the tiniest off-off-Broadway spaces the size of a postage stamp such as Theater C at 59e59 theaters in New York City; and to bustling outdoor audiences at the festive annual Shakespeare productions in Connecticut with the Elm Shakespeare Company. He has also previously taught at Alfred University, St. Bonaventure University, and Southern Connecticut State University.

Ickbal’s design credits include A Christmas Carol in Harlem (Classical Theater of Harlem), Or An Astronaut Play (The Tank NYC), Vietgone (Company One Theater), Florencia En El Amazonas (Yale Opera/Shubert Theater), A Comedy Of Errors, Love's Labour's Lost (Elm Shakespeare Company), Round Table (59e59 Theaters). Happy Days starring Diane Wiest (Mark Taper Forum Los Angeles, Theatre for a New Audience New York City), 125^th and Freedom, Retreat (National Black Theater), Dead Are My People (Noor Theater/New York Theater Workshop), The Taming of Cats (Brick Theater). Other credits include Nanyang: the musical (International Festival of Arts, Singapore), Yusof, The Gunpowder Trail, Hearth (The Esplanade Theatre Studio, Singapore).

As a designer and artist, Ickbal aims to give voice to the under- and/or misrepresented, seeks to de-colonize euro-centrism in theater, and believes theater is for all. He is interested in reclaiming the narrative of cultural evolution in cultures and societies that have hitherto been perceived as primitive, crude, and inferior.

In 2019, he received nominations for Best Scenic Design at the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards and the Elliot Norton Awards in Boston. He is a proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

Ickbal graduated with an M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama in 2016 and a B.A. (with Merit) from the National University of Singapore in 2007.

Education

• M.F.A., Yale School of Drama
• B.A., National University of Singapore