Lighting Designer

Two sisters reunite on the anniversary of the death of their father.

Their uncle has remodelled their family home, in an attempt at a fresh start. But one sister’s sudden reappearance threatens to shatter this fragile idyll as she demands justice for the pain she carries.

The Other Place

National Theatre

Duncan Macmillan’s (Lungs, 1984) intoxicating hit play People, Places & Things, directed by Jeremy Herrin (Best of Enemies, Wolf Hall, This House) and designed by Tony Award-winner Bunny Christie, is a ‘must-see all over again’ (WhatsOnStage).

Now playing at the Trafalgar Theatre until 10 August only.

Denise Gough reprises her Olivier Award-winning role as Emma, a struggling actress whose life is spinning recklessly out of control. Gough’s ‘blisteringly funny, brilliantly physical and achingly human’ (Financial Times) performance is once again thrilling audiences in People, Places & Things – hailed by critics as ‘one of the greatest of her generation’ (Independent).

People, Places & Things

Trafalgar Theatre

A joyous wedding celebration takes a shocking turn when the darkest of family secrets is revealed and a young bride has an impossible decision to make.
Acclaimed by the The New York Times as a “masterpiece,” Innocence takes us to the limits of a family’s ability to deal with tragedy. In a gripping one-act drama, Kaija Saariaho and Sofi Oksanen unfold a harrowing story of emotional shock and surprise in which our understanding of innocence and guilt is continually upended.
Premiered in Aix-en-Provence in 2021 and making its American premiere in San Francisco, Innocence makes clear the power of the opera stage to tell emotive stories impossible in any other art form. Saariaho specialist Clément Mao-Takacs leads an international cast of singers and actors in this towering work performed in multiple languages.

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Innocence

War Memorial Opera House

Lucia is trapped in an impossible situation. Her abusive brother hates the man she loves. Worse, he's forcing her to marry someone else in a last-ditch effort to shore up the family's failing finances. Her only way out seems to be murder...
Donizetti's gorgeously moody score masterfully conveys Lucia's isolation and instability as she slips into a terrifying world of madness. Two extraordinary sopranos—who launched their careers at LA Opera—will take on the iconic title role: Amanda Woodbury, who's now a star at the Metropolitan Opera, and Liv Redpath, who'll sing Lucia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin this year. Tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz returns as Lucia's beloved Edgardo, with Alexander Birch Elliott as Enrico and bass Eric Owens as Raimondo.
Lina González-Granados leads the proceedings in her first outing as the company's new Resident Conductor. Director Simon Stone creates a powerful new production that moves the story to a present-day world of desperation and decline.

Lucia di Lammermoor

Los Angeles Music Center

Amidst the first fragile and gentle sounds of this opera is an air of foreboding death that lingers, and yet Violetta Valéry’s enthusiasm for life’s luxurious pastimes is still unwavering: She is the »It-Girl« of Parisian society and throws a lavish party during which she tries to mask her seriously ill health. It is here, where she is introduced to Alfredo, a young man from the country. He has fallen in love with her, while she, at first, mockingly rejects his passionate advances, telling him she was not created for a love as intense as his. But she cannot stop thinking of his hauntingly enthusiastic declaration of love, and she then decides to start a new life at his side. The two withdraw from society and return to the country. After a few months of living together, Alfredo's father invades the couple's retreat and forces Violetta to leave her partner: she is a danger to his family's happiness and honour. Violetta acquiesces, and to make the separation easier on Alfredo, she hides the real reason for leaving him. When he confronts her at a ball in the capital, she claims to love someone else, whereupon the desperate Alfredo publicly humiliates her as being a harlot for sale. Weeks later, he learns that Violetta has sacrificed their happily ever after for his family, but it is too late: all hope is shattered upon Violetta's deathbed.Giuseppe Verdi's opera, first performed in 1853, is based on »La Dame aux Camélias«, or »The Fallen Lady«, a novel and play by Alexandre Dumas the Younger, who brought the myth of the selfless sinner into the present times of 1848: The figure of the courtesan is exposed to the purifying powers of suffering and love, which, in challenging bourgeois morality, make her character acceptable to a bourgeois readership. For the first time, Verdi chose contemporary material for a tragic opera and, what’s more, used an »objectionable« main character. »For Venice I will do the 'Lady of the Camellias', which may have 'Traviata' as its title,« is what he wrote to his friend Cesare de Sanctis. »A contemporary subject. Another one might not have made it, because of the costumes, the time and a thousand other silly scruples. ...I do it with the greatest of pleasures.«A performance in contemporary costumes was important to the composer, but found himself unable to have the last word regarding the imposed censorships: the plot had to be moved »to the time of Richelieu«, i.e. to the first half of the 17th century. Verdi could only try to remedy the damage done, as the librettist Francesco Maria Piave wrote in a letter to the director of the theatre putting on the premiere: »As far as the costumes are concerned, Verdi agrees with the greatest displeasure to move the plot to the past. However, he does not allow wigs under any circumstances, which is why Mr. de Antoni must be instructed to use costumes from the period immediately before wigs were introduced.« This falsification continued into the 20th century, and some sheet music and text editions still show the story being set »in the 17th century«.Nevertheless, the criticism of the bourgeois-capitalist double standard of morality as shown in the play was likely to be noticed even during the premiere, perhaps that is why it resulted in such a fiasco. Verdi was disappointed but did not doubt his work: »For my part, I believe that the last word about 'Traviata' was not spoken yesterday.« It would become one of the most performed operas in the world to date.The music in the opera is in line with the theme of an era that is nearing its end by setting itself up in a high tempo – as if there were no time to lose in view of the approaching end. As if breathlessly, the sound of a lavish social scene made up of galloping and waltz notes underpin the mundane conversational tone. Refined spatial effects shift the focus of action from the masses to the individual: With her weakness and her fear of death, the ill protagonist remains alone in the midst of a festive crowd. The intimate drama of Violetta inspired the composer – who treats the material with an unusually high degree of realism – to create scenic chamber music. The use of spoken language in Violetta's final agony also has a direct influence to this day in the context of an aesthetic that is largely committed to the vocal ideal of bel canto opera.Pretty Yende, who will appear for the first time in September in »L'elisir d'amore« at the Vienna State Opera, can now be heard as Violetta Valéry, with Frédéric Antoun as Alfredo at her side. And conductor Giacomo Sagripanti, winner of the International Opera Award as »Young Conductor of the Year«, will for the first time conduct a premiere at the Vienna State Opera after »L'elisir d'amore« and »La Fille du régiment«.Director Simon Stone stages Violetta Valéry as a terminally ill influencer who remains trapped in her »Instagram world« even when she and her lover retire to the country. Everything private is public in her case, but the public urban space becomes her only retreat during her moments of weakness.

La traviata

For Leonora, the troubadour Manrico's song holds the promise and the fervor of love, while Manrico's rival Count Luna perceives threat and danger in it. Verdi's opera is a celebration of Italian opera singing at its finest - it is no coincidence that the title character is himself a singer. And yet, for the composer, Azucena, Manrico's mother, was the real main character. Il trovatore is rich in dramatic complications and intense emotions, which Verdi juxtaposes harshly in images and scenes. The tragedy unfolds relentlessly before our eyes and ears until the truth is revealed in the last seconds of the opera.

Il trovatore

Hamburg State Opera

With Die Frau ohne Schatten , composer Richard Strauss and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal created a layered fairy tale about two couples in search of meaning and new life in a cold and barren world.

The Frau ohne Schatten

National Opera & Ballet

Dr. Kieron is a brilliant scientist, respected and feared by his colleagues. But what nobody suspects is that every night he is haunted in his dreams by three recurring beings, enigmatic numbers and mysterious symbols, which he experiences with unbearably intense feelings. It is from these apparitions that he receives his scientific visions - the fundamental basis of his success. He also leads a double life. A highly respected scientist by day, he dives into the shady underworld at night in a restless search for human happiness. But his control over himself is slipping away. In order to satisfy his irrepressible urge for scientific knowledge and an emotionally fulfilling life, Kieron wants to have his dreams analyzed and enters into an alliance with the diabolical master Astaroth, with fatal consequences. Unsuk Chin drew inspiration for her second opera from the life and work of the legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli and his relationship with the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. Faustian material for the 21st century.

James Farncombe

Lighting Designer

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 27, 2025

Il trovatore · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 23 - May 10, 2025

The Frau ohne Schatten · Nationale Opera & Ballet

May 18 - Jun 5, 2025

Die dunkle Seite des Mondes · Staatsoper Hamburg

Past events

Sep 27 - Nov 9, 2024

The Other Place · National Theatre

3 - 10 Aug, 2024

People, Places & Things · National Theatre

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