MIDLAND THEATRE BALLET
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
LIGHTING DESIGNER & PROGRAMMER
-
Photography: Lachlan Monaghan © and Jimmy Parrat ©️.
Image gallery at the bottom of the page.
The Production
This production of The Sleeping Beauty from Midland Theatre Ballet was a three-act classical ballet.
Following the traditional magical journey, as the wicked Fairy Carabosse casts an evil spell sending the beauty in question into a deep and long slumber, while she awaits to be awoken by the shivechivalrous Prince.
A truly magical and traditional story. With graceful dance, gripping moments as Carabosse makes mischief and beautiful music, this truly was a gorgeous production.
The Design
-
Designing for this production was absolutely fantastic and is truly one of my favourite designs I have ever produced.
Spending absolute hours in pre-viz pre-programming to bring this mammoth design challenge to life. This of course saved plenty of time for both the creatives and the technical personnel involved in the production (such as the stage manager).
My design used a range of techniques, such as deeply traditional dance lighting methods and way more theatrical moments in contrast. This was done as a means to reflect the very traditional and graceful moments with the very big, theatrical aspects of the production.
The production design used many cloths and gauze which provided a multitude of challenges considering the timeframe and tools available, however the result, I think was very positive.
I honestly say I feel the combination of my rig and the design process itself blended well with the production style and every performer truly popped as side-light brought them to life on the stage.
The Project
-
This production was a fantastic creative adventure with a multitude of challenges. This three-act production, with its large cast and deeply graceful dance, was a stunning production to design.
This truly was a stunning production, combining classical ballet with modern production design techniques, working closely with the fantastic director Immie Ash to create a fabulous theatrical dance experience for both the students and audience alike, which reflects the vision that combined the classical with the potential that modern design techniques could bring.
