The Tragedy of Carmen

​* arranged by Peter Brook *  composed by George Bizet *

direction: James Kenon Mitchell  *  conductor: Braden Toan  
* scenic design & painting: AmarA*jk 
​costumes Sue Johnson  * 

​starring
*  Tascha Anderson  *  Andrew Surrena *
* Scott Percell  *  Stacey Geyer *   
with:  William Snyder * Martin Schmidt * Evan Nelson

photo credits * jk

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Design Process

Early in the process, director James Kennon Mitchell and AmarA*jk decided to work towards a conceptual visual design.  The goals were to create a playing space that would allow for a sense of the varied locations, be sizable enough for energetic fight scenes, and make a statement of its own.  

The "stage" was entirely constructed. Eventually the sign was hung behind tracked curtains, instead of being ground mounted, to allow for a reveal for the final scene.

Final Groundplan

​Part of our goal as designer-in-residence at Tri-Cities Opera has been to explore the versatility of the  venue, Savoca-Hibbit Hall.  In this production, we used one of the long side walls as the playing space, with the orchestra to the side, on the small stage at the end of the hall.  

Initial concept rendering of the drop.

The drop behind the playing space was imagined as a mural on the wall of the bull fighting arena.  It featured repeating themes: Female face and female dancing - representing the seduction of Carmen; the bull - Carmen's men; and the dove - the other women. 
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 As the design process went on, we further simplified the introduction of the themes on the SR side of the dominating figure in the center and added layers of chaos to the SL side.  Conceptually, we chose to have the center Carmen figure looking directly out at the audience.  This design intentionally separated the audience from the action by the level of the stage in spite of the extreme intimacy of the space.  It made the audience voyuers to both the sexuality and the violence in the tale, seen and silent.

 We had the good fortune to have our Carmen, Tascha Anderson, in pre-rehearsals for the production while the drop was being painted.  Her movement and aspect were our muse for painting the Carmen personifications.  Other inspirations were the cave paintings in Lascaux, movement studies by Marcel Duchamp, street art by Banksy, and line art by Kandinsky.
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Production Photos

Director James Kennon Mitchell used the simple levels and background images in his staging to great effect.  With isolating lighting, the lower SR platform became a prison cell, the upper platform became a private room in the tavern or a private camp for newlyweds.  With more general lighting the whole space became the town square or the plaza outside the bull fighting arena. 

Director James Kennon Mitchell associated the characters with the images on the drop from the very first time we meet Carmen.

Don Jose was physically associated with the bull during his many long and pensive moments building to his final madness.

Micaëla is associated with the dove, which is reachable on the simple SR side of the drop - representing the seduction - but on the SL side of the drop - the fallout - the dove is out of reach.

Tasha Anderson's dance training, physicality, and grace are reflected in the dancing images

The Jail, created with physical levels and lighting.

Generally associated with the dove, in the Toreador scene, Micaëla becomes a seductress like Carmen: Unashamed and direct

Director James Kennon Mitchell often used the background images to illustrate the subtext, such as this image from the final scene.