Saturday 22 December 2012

Death and Treason


We have just finished Death and Treason Rhyme and Reason a theatrical gig at Bristol Old Vic. The show, led by my wonderful collaborator Elizabeth Westcott, looked at the origins and historical contexts of nursery rhymes. After playing to enchanted audiences, the gang had a lot of great feedback. I think there are exciting possibilities in store for the future.

I worked on the show as Set and Costume Designer and created a dusty sprawling installation on top of Madeline Girling's excellent set for Hey Diddle Diddle. I also made a series of paintings which accompanied the different sets of songs in the show. We spent lots of development time talking through historical and thematic influences on nursery rhymes and I created the paintings based on that research as well as listening to the amazing music the performers created.

Sketching initial thoughts whilst hearing the music

Sharing design ideas in the rehearsal room

Working on more final imagery. Photo: Flavio Perez

Working out the feeling and scenography

Rehearsing one of the songs from the show

The show was created by and performed by:
Elizabeth Westcott (violin/voice)
Hannah Martin (violin/viola/voice)
Jessica Macdonald (cello/voice)
Robbie Burgess (percussion/voice)
Nuala Honan (voice)

I had a great time working with this bunch and bringing together illustration, visual theatre and design to . Check out the Venue review and the Bristol Post review.

Production shots by Daniel Narayanan:





And here are some of the paintings I created which appeared in the show:



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