“Scenographer takis, director Martin Lloyd-Evans, and lighting designer Robbie Butler have made a production which concentrates the audience’s attention on the characters and on the text. The scenery is minimal and symbolic, it never gets in the way, and there is much clever and allusive use of hanging stage flats.” — The Arts Desk, Sebastian Scotney
“The production team achieve this through a combination of period-specific detail, simple iconographic statements by designer takis…” — Opera Today, Claire Seymour
Dialogues des Carmélites | 2018
Francis Poulenc’s devastating opera about Carmelite nuns during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. Directed by Martin Lloyd-Evans with designs by takis, conductor Dominic Wheeler led this production of Poulenc’s 1957 masterwork based on the true story of the Martyrs of Compiègne.
takis’ design captured the austere convent world where the nuns face their test of faith, from the cloistered safety of their religious community to the revolutionary tribunal and scaffold. Poulenc’s score moves from contemplative prayer to the opera’s shattering final scene where sixteen nuns walk to the guillotine singing the “Salve Regina.”
Creative Team: Director: Martin Lloyd-Evans | Designer: takis | Conductor: Dominic Wheeler | Composer: Francis Poulenc
Production page: Guildhall School of Music & Drama · Reviews: The Arts Desk, Opera Today