Peter Mumford

Lighting design is a major part of storytelling and the development of a narrative. We approach it in several ways. In one instance, we think visually about the entire stage as if it were a wide shot. For example, in Dalia (Ibelhauptaitė)’s operas, you often see up to 70 people on stage. You treat it like a wide frame, aiming for the audience to take in the whole picture. But there are moments when you need to draw attention to one or two individuals in that specific scene. In film, to take a closer look, we would zoom in with the camera, whereas in theatre, we focus the light on a single point. That’s how we tell the audience where to look.

There are also similarities with film editing. By changing the lighting, we create cuts, edits, mixes, shifts in color, or changes in atmosphere. These can be dramatic transitions tied to action or dialogue on stage—or, as is increasingly popular in the modern opera world, the light change itself becomes a kind of musical spectacle.

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La Bohème was like the first gathering of an incredibly talented group of people, led by Dalia. A magical production that sparked a very interesting reaction in Lithuania and Vilnius. It unexpectedly opened up the world of opera… to those outside of the opera world. It showed people that opera could be an accessible and understandable pleasure. We were all very excited, and the production itself at the time was simply magical. I’ve worked on a couple of other Bohèmes, and in my opinion, the one in Vilnius was the best production I’ve ever been a part of.

Besides, it’s a truly beautiful piece—it has everything: engaging music, a great story, and we had wonderful, exciting, young performers.

We were also deeply excited that we managed to fit the entire set design into the Congress Hall and transform it into a theatre. A different kind of theatre, but a great one nonetheless. In the end, this production helped spark the formation of the bohemiečiai, which later became the Vilnius City Opera.