Rodelinda

IU OPERA THEATRE, INDIANA USA - 2017

DIRECTED BY TOM DIAMOND

LIGHTING DESIGN BY PATRICK VINCENT MERO

"Stage director Tom Diamond with set and costume designer Philip Witcomb have moved the drama from the balmy sunshine of seventh century Lombardy to cold dark medieval Scandinavia. The story of Rodelinda and Bertarido’s enduring love plays out assisted by and commented on by a golden Norse god of love and a dark figure of fate."

"Philip Witcomb’s sets are on the massive side. The opening curtain is a candle strewn, rock wall with a huge medallion that opens in sections. In the opening scene a three story stairway leads up and out of the set. Later a huge memorial stone face pierced by a sword fills the stage. As the evening goes on more and more large grey swords rest their points on the stage. More intimate set of stairs leads up to the thrown of the play’s center, but then it’s back to swords and the fall of lanterns in the finale with a collapse of a ballroom."

"Witcomb’s costumes for the characters creatively seem to take their cue from the rough and fantastical designs of the TV series The Game of Thrones."

Indiana Public Media

"The actions undertaken by the cast and the impressive settings on view for an extravagant tale from the Dark Ages makes IU’s Rodelinda a stimulating experience."

Herald Times