So for the past 2 weeks I've been lucky enough to get some experience at the Royal Opera House Scenic Workshop in Purfleet, Essex through my university.
On the first day I was given a complimentary ticket to see La Donna Del Lago, the opera that was currently showing. I'm not a huge fan of opera's but I wouldn't miss an opportunity (especially when it's free) to try out something new. I saw The Marriage of Figaro at the Colosseum a couple of years ago and really didn't enjoy it, especially as the set consisted of a white wall revolving set - not too interesting for a Scenic Artist - so when I went to see this I hoped it would be better, which it was.
I'm eternally grateful for the idea of subtitles or else I would be completely lost. However I found that I spent the whole time reading them and not properly watching what was going on on stage; they also seemed to sing a lot longer than the subtitles suggested. Focusing on the aesthetic side of things, I found the set to be very beautiful and quite traditional looking. There was a big mountain scene painting on a set of doors that rolled in and out and for a while I was distracted trying to determine whether it was a painting or a photograph. (I later found out it was a painting and I wish I could show you but no photography allowed I'm afraid.)
Whilst being at an Opera I find myself quite uncomfortable in the fact that I'm surrounded by far more refined people than me... using words such as 'quite' and 'bravo'.
In total I was only in the ROH workshop for 6 days. To give you an idea of what I did, here is a schedule I made which will eventually be a part of my end of term essay.
I didn't get much chance to help out with ROH sets as I was learning how to draw and paint using a stick and working on a personal project for university. However, I learnt SO much from this, including new techniques and methods that I wouldn't really get a chance to do such as making a cloth look like 3D foliage. Their list of products is insane, everything I wanted to try was there for me to use and they didn't mind at all. I did get to help cut out a cloth for an upcoming show but hopefully one day I will be able to go back there and help out more. Here are some pictures of what I did whilst there:
At the end of my placement I was given another complimentary ticket to see the Raven Girl/Symphony in C ballet's (two ballet's in one showing) which was great as I prefer ballet to opera. The first ballet was driven by a story and it's colour's were quite dark. It was great to see a set that the artists had been working on just before I arrived at the workshop, on stage. I'd previously seen pictures of it and it was good to see under lighting. It was good but I found my attention drifting quite a lot which I assumed was going to happen, I don't enjoy it enough to be hooked. The second ballet was just... ballet. Pretty white tutu's set again a bright blue background - very pleasing to look at and only lasted 36 minutes so it was a nice pick-me-up after Raven Girl.
I think this is a worthwhile read if you're interested in Raven Girl. Click HERE.
These two weeks have been an amazing experience, I've seen things I wouldn't have done had I been in university and even though I didn't get to help out too much with the ROH sets, their help and guidance was genuinely appreciated.
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