Attack of the MegaBlog

So... this is the first post from the collaborative group of graduate designers, local artists and students who are helping to develop the production.  And to be honest, we seem a little stuck for what to say, so forgive us if we ramble, and these are our thoughts so far.  

The project itself is a massive undertaking in an abandoned warehouse, which will be transformed into the setting for a new and immersive version of Mozart's 'Idomeneo'. Our role within the development of the production is exploring, with the designer, the themes of the opera and investigating ways to make interesting visuals which reveal the back story, contributing ideas towards the design and overall experience of the performance.

We began by talking about the importance of the back story to the production, the trojan war and the belief systems of the greek people, hearing the initial ideas of the director and listening to parts of the opera sung professionally. We discussed the turning point in the opera at which the old gives way to the new, about Mozart being part of the Enlightenment, and the new ways of thinking this engendered, and how this was represented in the opera.  We had an 'interesting' bonding session with the chorus (being designers, rather than performers, bonding activities can be a little uncomfortable although necessary) Stuart tried, unsuccessfully, to rescue us and show us the space in which the opera will be performed.  at this stage, the space itself was full of junk, rubble, it was leaking, the floor was covered in oil and the smell... well, it was different.  The acoustics also needed a bit of a tweak, and at that point in time it was really rather an overwhelming space, especially in terms of the amount of work that apparently was needed.  Graham (the director) spoke about removing the audience from their comfort zone, so as to remove the elitist connotations of opera, and make everyone equally uncertain of what could happen. And that was just the first day!

Day two, a week later, we met again, and things seemed to have been developed quite a lot. the design concept for the performance had pretty much been established, and how the space would be used  in relation to the movement of audience and performers was set.  there was a lot more talking and discussion f ideas, some of us had been told to research specific ares and themes, and these were talked through- like a 'thinktank'.  We thought about not only design, but how these things could be applied in the staging of the performance, and how they would affect the audience on various levels.

(Franky - this is day two on the job for me, so all of the above is new to me as well!  still pretty much overwhelmed with the whole thing, mostly because this is basically exactly the type of thing I hope to do as a designer myself.  now I know what I'm letting myself in for.  I seem to be continuously nervous about making a good impression, and therefore I'm probably not... 

the design of the opera itself is very intriguing and different to anything i've seen before, but that's the beauty of site-specific work - it's always so different depending on the space used.  there are so many elements to the design that it's really very interesting to see how it all ties in - from a Utopian socialist-ish society, to almost pagan, definitely polytheistic animal sacrifices.)

Until next time, Richard needs his computer back!  

Liz, Sam, Franky, Harry, Oli