Opera productions large and small...

This new production of Die Lustige Witwe for de Vlaamse opera is set in 1938, with references to the golden age MGM Hollywood , and hints at the fading decadence of the final Weimar years. Below are costume designs and the 8m revolve newly completed in the workshop in Zela, Antwerp. This has been a labour of love for the workshop as each piece has been cut and stained individually to create the floor. The small round piece just visible near the top is the 1:25 model section!

















In 2002, I designed a project for ENO's Bayliss Programme called South of the River. A large scale community opera with a cast of 60, it was staged in the Potter's Fields next to Tower Bridge in London. The three graffiti artists that I found were incredible..I gave them two photos as colour references (one of a rusted railing, one of tower bridge) and together they created the single largest piece of graf work (at the time!) in Europe - the set floor is about 30 metres end to end. In a collaboration between two very different worlds -  it was very satisfying be in the middle to watch misapprehensions from both sides disappear with the acknowledgement of one another's craft.












Photo showing the rig and projection screens that were used for the live feed camera work during the show.




























Two sections of the set and the floor. The colour scheme was reversed for the set blocks, which came apart as two L-shaped sections and which finally formed the boxing ring for the finale of the piece.