L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti
British Youth Opera @ Piazza del Popolo. Anghiari, Tuscany, Italy, July 2008
Director: Stuart Barker Conductor: Simon Over Lighting Design: G.P.Service, Arezzo
A fairy tale pop-up book setting for this comic opera. The scene is set as an open book with pages flying out to form the backdrop, including a panorama of Anghiari in the centre. When the chorus enter during the overture they raise the pop-up tree and wall elements to create the final setting. The book theme of the opera is carried through the colour of the costumes with the peasants and main stage being in earth and green palettes, the soldiers from a different book being in primary colours and Dulcamara's group from yet a third book being in artificial pinks, oranges and purples. Dulcamara's cart had a spring-loaded medicine show display that popped up at the strike of his cane. (All scenic painting, principal costume construction and the building of the cart mechanisms by Stuart Targett)
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