From the Designer —

Liam asked me to begin my design task with the mystical story of Oberon and Titania and their fairy world, which is disturbed this particular evening, by the lovers and their rustical mates from the real world. The resulting confusion and mayhem, that we all know so well, describes one of the most magical of Shakespeare’s stories. The ballet unfolds over the course of a single night, in the forest, at the centre of a fairy dell. This is where the fairies live and work and play, inside a very particular kind of architecture. The structural forms of the world are derived from their activities inside it. Oberon has a bridge from which he can oversee his domain, Puck is able to run and climb and appear from anywhere and the fairies all have their homes here. We watch the story illuminated by a night sky and the nature of this light, cast on the forest from the moon and stars, in turn, reveals the decoration and palette of the fairy world. In control of lighting this very special place is the wonderful Kendall Smith. He paints it as Oberon majestically gestures it to be or as the rustics rudely intrude with their ungainly ways.

The magic has been a while in the planning and has been carefully realised by some clever people. The design includes particular structural, decorative and technical elements that exist only for this production.

Tracy Grant Lord