Puccini Suor Angelica English National Opera, September 2024 Director Annilese Miskimmon Lighting Mark Jonathan

Semi-staged Production

Reviews 

But what does ‘semi-staged’ mean? I have seen semi-stagings that were basically concert performances; director Annilese Miskmmon’s vision – and that of her designer Yannis Thavoris – was far more than this, practically fully staged. Yes, the props were minimal: a Madonna on the left, a desk on the right and some hanging laundry. The laundry? Miskimmon has resituated the opera to the Magdalene Laundries, convents of 1960s Ireland where young girls were sent who had violated social mores, including pregnancy out of wedlock… A statue of the Madonna observes everything as well as being an idol in Her own right; Angelica’s child appears in the heartrending final scene, draping himself over the nun. It is a powerful take, for sure; with Mark Jonathan’s lighting skilfully maintaining this atmosphere throughout. (Seen and Heard International)

Miskimmon pulls no punches, achieving absolute narrative clarity in a black box set thanks to Yannis Thavoris’s telling props: a cloudscape of hanging sheets, an altar-rail of sinks and ironing stations. **** (The i Paper)

…a production that blends sensitive stagecraft and directorial rage. The relocation to Ireland was unsparing in its evocation not of some tearjerking melodrama but of an almost documentary reportage on real events. The stark designs by Yannis Thavoris, far from semi-staged, framed a concept whose realism was discomfiting from the outset, with desperate young women heavily pregnant and in need of loving comfort while unloved babies were wheeled away to an unspecified fate. ***** (Bachtrack)

Yannis Thavoris’s minimalist approach to the set design works in the production’s favour, stripping away distractions and placing the emotional core of the story at the forefront. Set in one of the controversial Magdalene Laundries, bedecked with drying sheets and primitive washing implements, he portrays an austere realism in an abstract manner using clean lines and muted tones. This choice underscores the emotional prison of Suor Angelica, allowing her internal anguish to take centre stage, as the audience is forced to focus on her emotional journey rather than on external details. (Londonology)

In line with the overall set-up, Yannis Thavoris’s set suggests that while the focus of convent life should be on spirituality and prayer, in practice it can involve extremely hard and mundane work. We see novices washing clothes in sinks and others ironing, while the pure white linen that hangs above them bridges the gap between the temporal and divine. This is because it represents the convent’s infrastructure, with the golden sunlight that is described as falling on the cloister actually illuminating the linen, courtesy of Mark Jonathan’s lighting designs. (Opera Online)