Amahl and the Night Visitors
For this family-friendly opera I was asked to write notes on my design for the program. Here's what I wrote:
Hoping to set the scene for an experience of wonder and gratitude, two primary issues emerged in thinking about designing this story. First, we wanted to evoke the harsh beauty of the Middle Eastern landscape that surrounds Amahl and his mother. This involved simplifying and unifying everything on the ground, keeping the shapes, colors and textures natural and graceful. Second, while we realize that nothing we put on stage can rival what is given to us every night outside, we needed to create a starry sky that seemed tactile and magical and awesome all at once. We filled the space with glowing shapes and rhythmic patterns, so that the stars themselves are a visual response to the poetry of Amahl's adventure.