How would you describe the aesthetic of the show/set?
The unifying aesthetic of the design is “opera aware that it is opera”. This means that the show is a constructed theatrical world that is not pretending to be anything other than what it actually is. And this is because I believe that at the heart of opera/theatre/performance is storytelling, not pretending. This leads us to a figurative design, which hopefully does not tell the audience our “solved conclusion” of the story but rather gives the audience just enough for their imaginations to begin to work from.
The design also responds to the space we are working with. The Basement Theatre is grungy and a bit messy with lots of character, and so the design uses this existing aesthetic but also aims to add some order to the space.
What types of materials have you used in the creation process? And how does that reflect and feed into the story?
The materials I have used in the realisation of design on stage are white gaffer tape and two white platforms. The Main Theatre Space is essentially “Dido’s Realm”. Throughout the design process, Frances and I explored what Dido’s space means and what Dido’s relationship to it is. The tape on the ground very clearly defines Dido’s space, where she is not just a Queen but also a person and passing over this line means being able to step closer to Dido. The materiality of the space is figurative, with the intention of not giving the audience the whole picture (a film can do that), but rather enough to spark their imaginations to depart from.
The unifying aesthetic of the design is “opera aware that it is opera”. This means that the show is a constructed theatrical world that is not pretending to be anything other than what it actually is. And this is because I believe that at the heart of opera/theatre/performance is storytelling, not pretending. This leads us to a figurative design, which hopefully does not tell the audience our “solved conclusion” of the story but rather gives the audience just enough for their imaginations to begin to work from.
The design also responds to the space we are working with. The Basement Theatre is grungy and a bit messy with lots of character, and so the design uses this existing aesthetic but also aims to add some order to the space.
What types of materials have you used in the creation process? And how does that reflect and feed into the story?
The materials I have used in the realisation of design on stage are white gaffer tape and two white platforms. The Main Theatre Space is essentially “Dido’s Realm”. Throughout the design process, Frances and I explored what Dido’s space means and what Dido’s relationship to it is. The tape on the ground very clearly defines Dido’s space, where she is not just a Queen but also a person and passing over this line means being able to step closer to Dido. The materiality of the space is figurative, with the intention of not giving the audience the whole picture (a film can do that), but rather enough to spark their imaginations to depart from.
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What was the design process you followed for the work?
The design process began very intuitively. I started by listening to the score once or twice without taking notes, and then let it sit in my head for a couple of days. I then came back to it, listening again, and I started to record the first feelings and impressions I had. However, it can take a while to be able to articulate some of these impressions I get. So again, I sat with it for a couple of days.
From that point on Frances and I built the design in conversation. We designed it by talking about the questions that the text is asking, once we can understand what they are we can then start creating a show that reveals or presents these questions to the audience in a very rich way. These become design drivers. The materiality then comes last, always serving the design drivers these should fall into place. Once the concept is developed, I then model it in 3D on my laptop and this ends up on the concept pages.
How do props, objects, and costume get used in the work to progress the story? How did that shape your design?
This show does not demand any props, set or costume to tell the story, whereas some shows could not exist without these. This poses an interesting question: What is the job of the design when the text doesn’t depend on design elements?
The job of the design in this show is to support the performers as they tell the story. The design heightens their performance and gives them a theatrical world to play within. One key element when the design helps tell the story is at the end when Dido takes off her outer garments, and wipes her make up off.
opera” and breaking the convention of traditional opera. This is storytelling, not pretending, and we want it to be lots of fun.
The design process began very intuitively. I started by listening to the score once or twice without taking notes, and then let it sit in my head for a couple of days. I then came back to it, listening again, and I started to record the first feelings and impressions I had. However, it can take a while to be able to articulate some of these impressions I get. So again, I sat with it for a couple of days.
From that point on Frances and I built the design in conversation. We designed it by talking about the questions that the text is asking, once we can understand what they are we can then start creating a show that reveals or presents these questions to the audience in a very rich way. These become design drivers. The materiality then comes last, always serving the design drivers these should fall into place. Once the concept is developed, I then model it in 3D on my laptop and this ends up on the concept pages.
How do props, objects, and costume get used in the work to progress the story? How did that shape your design?
This show does not demand any props, set or costume to tell the story, whereas some shows could not exist without these. This poses an interesting question: What is the job of the design when the text doesn’t depend on design elements?
The job of the design in this show is to support the performers as they tell the story. The design heightens their performance and gives them a theatrical world to play within. One key element when the design helps tell the story is at the end when Dido takes off her outer garments, and wipes her make up off.
opera” and breaking the convention of traditional opera. This is storytelling, not pretending, and we want it to be lots of fun.
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ow would describe the overall aesthetic of the costumes? Where have you reflected tradition and where have you modernised?
The costumes are highly theatrical and almost quite traditional. This allows us to visually juxtapose this idea of traditional opera, where we perform in big gowns in a big theatre, with this more contemporary world of opera that we are presenting. The costumes hold more of this idea of traditional theatre, with the set and direction holding the note of the contemporary vision. |
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We have restricted our colour palette of mostly whites and blacks with a few pops of colour. Again, the idea behind this aesthetic is notion of a figurative design, where we see traditionally shaped white wigs, however made out of a contemporary material. This allows us to imagine a number of different things at once, rather than a literal meaning.
The costumes definitely reflect more of tradition. They are essentially period costumes with corsets, skirts and petticoats. We have then modernized the costumes by creating beautiful big wigs out of unexpected material and putting everyone in bright Chuck Taylors. These two ideas visually juxtapose each other, which allows us to really play on this idea of “opera aware of itself as opera” and breaking the convention of traditional opera. This is storytelling, not pretending, and we want it to be lots of fun.
The costumes definitely reflect more of tradition. They are essentially period costumes with corsets, skirts and petticoats. We have then modernized the costumes by creating beautiful big wigs out of unexpected material and putting everyone in bright Chuck Taylors. These two ideas visually juxtapose each other, which allows us to really play on this idea of “opera aware of itself as opera” and breaking the convention of traditional opera. This is storytelling, not pretending, and we want it to be lots of fun.
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Where do you draw inspiration from?
When designing the opera, a huge amount of inspiration came from the score. The text is always such a rich source to explore and from there I seek out inspiration to help visually articulate the idea in my head. This usually comes from a good Google searching session or from the references in the catalogue in my brain. So when designing I usually think first and find inspiration after.
But when I’m not designing, I’m always still collecting – a bit like a magpie. I read lots and lots of books and love spending time at galleries and libraries where you can stumble upon something you never knew existed in the world. The problem with the internet (i.e. Google) is that you have to know what you are searching for and quite often the sheer volume of content reduces the quality.
This is the opposite with exhibitions and books. I then store these away in the pantry in my mind, knowing that someday I’ll use them – sometimes, when designing, an artist that I haven’t thought about in years will pop into my head!
When designing the opera, a huge amount of inspiration came from the score. The text is always such a rich source to explore and from there I seek out inspiration to help visually articulate the idea in my head. This usually comes from a good Google searching session or from the references in the catalogue in my brain. So when designing I usually think first and find inspiration after.
But when I’m not designing, I’m always still collecting – a bit like a magpie. I read lots and lots of books and love spending time at galleries and libraries where you can stumble upon something you never knew existed in the world. The problem with the internet (i.e. Google) is that you have to know what you are searching for and quite often the sheer volume of content reduces the quality.
This is the opposite with exhibitions and books. I then store these away in the pantry in my mind, knowing that someday I’ll use them – sometimes, when designing, an artist that I haven’t thought about in years will pop into my head!
