Set Design

I don't have many words to describe how floored I am by all the set designs in the links. To start, The Ring Cycle's abstract design (pictured below) is unbelievable. I still can't comprehend the size and complexity behind its design and wire acrobatics. 

The outdoor theater at the Bregenz Festival is beyond creative. Each of the sets done over the last few years were great, but the fact that they could put a design into a real-life set is phenomenal.  

Taken Apart

Stop animation is always an excruciating medium to work with, however, its subtleties become more powerful. Each frame contains slight movements of the set, and the artist at work does everything on purpose. In this adaptation of Madama Butterfly, we learn of a young Geisha's heartbreak. Without re-describing the story, I would like to reiterate the amazing ending. The tie is cut between the woman and her child and the Naval officer, PInkerton, leaves her without regret. With no child or lover, the woman is left to rot, and thus takes herself apart. However, she was emotionally taken apart before her own undoing. As she turns out the lights, the audience is left feeling the heartbreak of a being willing to wait a lifetime for love. 

My favorite scene was when Pinkerton and his "Barbie" wife wave goodbye without remorse, her hair grays immediately, showing just how broken she was.