Lucas Benjaminh Krech

Lighting Design

Don Giovanni with Berkeley Opera was a radical exercise in minimalism. CYC, a few sets of legs, and four steel framed boxes faced with milk plexi and topped with clear plexi was all we had for a set. Downstage on the floor a 4′x8′ mirror served as Don Giovanni’s personal island of narcissism. For the second act a single hanging streetlamp flies in.

We were interested in creating a spare environment to better focus on the performers and music without distraction. The lighting shared this minimal vocabulary. A few simple and distinct elements reconfigured through the piece.

Don Giovanni is a dark comedy. The comedy must be treated with a very steady hand or the weight of Giovanni’s misanthropic sexual exploits are lost. The piece begins with a rape and end with our villain being dragged into Hell. This led me to approach the piece with cool colors and a lot of shadow. Sidelight and silhouette were the name of the game.