apple xi ding
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Composer - Dmitri Shostakovic | Librettist - Dmitri Shostakovich, Alexander Preys | novel by - Nikolai Leskov | Director - Patrick Connella | Set&Costume Dsigner - Apple Ding
This is a conceptual design project directed by Patrick Connella and designed by me in 2022.
Diverging from the Soviet Union's 1961 version of Lady Macbeth, I have set the story on a Kansas corn farm in 2022. Boris, a nouveau riche farmer who made his fortune through massive agricultural subsidies, his worthless son Zinovy, the traded beautiful Asian bride Katerina, and the charming and mixed-race farmworker Sergei all meet their demise in this vast and despairing cornfield.
Crop circles, formed by workers wearing black rain boots, emerge as the plot unfolds. In the final scene, the trampled circles converge into a pathway leading towards the end. Like waves parting, the cornfield splits open, and Katerina walks towards the end that, for her, represents either death or freedom.
A small round crop circle in the middle of field. Boris slowly stepping around the bed.
Boris and Zinovy walk around, step down the corn plants, make the circle bigger and bigger. Opera singers appear through the field, just need to show their heads in between the corn plants.
Prison guards step down the corn plants to the end of central line make a route connect womb crop circle and the end of corn field. The whole wall of field opens up from the central, light comes through from back, Katerina walks to the end to the light, jumps down.
A small round crop circle in the middle of field. Boris slowly stepping around the bed.
