Amadigi

• Directed by K. Richardson • Composed by G F Handel • Iford Manor Music Festival, UK

One of the major themes of the opera is the conflict of good and evil, and it concerns itself with different sets of opposites. One of the advantages of designing for Iford Manor is the setting, which is in itself both beautiful and historic.
Using this as one of the opposites, and following the director's updating of the story, setting it during the Iraq war.
I contrasted the cloister itself by giving the floor a striking 'modern' look.
It was painted to create an optical illusion, using red and blue; hot and cold - on either side to represent the different sides of the conflict, with a complex transition between the two that was not easy to work out,
in the same way that the resolution of conflict is never easy.