CARMEN
Typology: set design
Year: 2022
Venue: Abbey Theatre - Dublin, Ireland
Year: 2022
Venue: Abbey Theatre - Dublin, Ireland
* study project for the MFA Stage Design at The Lir Academy.
The reason why Carmen is fascinating to so many people is that she is a free spirit. She does something few people have the guts to do - literally whatever she wants. When she starts to get bored with the situation she's in
she turns everything around and reinvents it all again - and I wanted the set for this piece to reflect that.
she turns everything around and reinvents it all again - and I wanted the set for this piece to reflect that.
Something else that was important to me was not to set it in a contemporary time - bullfights may be a tradition but I believe there is no more excuses to keep it going nowadays - so much so the government in Spain is considering ending them. For me, it would either have to be a period piece or be set in an abstract yet recognizable world. So I looked for elements that could be found in all four settings - a square, a tavern, the mountains, and a bullring - and arches immediately stood out to me.
By creating a total of seven metallic structures, each representing an arch, and putting them on trucks, the set can not only be reinvented in each act to create a new space, but its sections can become part of the choreography, creating transitions that will capture the attention of the audience in a fun and unexpected way.
I've also always been very drawn to the Romani culture and even all the clichés around it - and let's be honest, this opera is full of cliches and stereotypes. It's enthralling that Carmen tells us what happens in the end right at the beginning of the third act, yet we are still captivated by the plot. To accentuate the drama and the cliché of gypsies being able to predict the future, in the cards scene, 5 fly-in pieces form a tarot spread with cards that can predict death, as Carmen predicts the death of herself and José.
All I could see the first time I heard Carmen entirely was red. I don't think it's possible to dissociate this piece with this color - it's passion, courage, anger, death. As time passes and Carmen gets closer to her end, the back wall and floor of the set are slowly painted red with lights, making the earthy background look like blood. In the same way, Carmen, all dressed in red in the beginning, has it toned down throughout the acts, losing the life she had in her.
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