Written and directed by Aaron Henne and produced by Collision/Theory ran for three nights at Highways Performance space that proved to be one of the more rewarding experiences of Designer and Composer Martin Carrillo’s career. While it was a shame that more performances weren’t in the cards for this ad hoc assembly of incredible talent, this proved to be an incredible tour de force for Michael Manning (Animations, Video, Illustrations), Lyn Gaza (Video Projections Design), Dan Weingarten (Lighting Design), Nike Schroeder (Costumes) Dan Creech, and Alex Gilliam (Sound Mixer), plus the amazing cast of Actors; Julie Lockhart (Brunnhild), Paul Vroom (Hagen), Diana Wyenn (Kriemhild), Garth Whitten (Siegfried) and Mark McClain Wilson (Gunter). Special Thanks to Jason Thompson for providing his talents as Projections Programmer, and Nikki Hyde for calling the show.
Kudos to the amazing cast, director and especially sound designer.
– Joel Daavid, Set Designer
The project in workshop was co-presented as part of the Los Angeles Ring Festival. A tale of magic, love, loyalty and revenge, the piece was inspired by Das Nibelungenlied, the 800 year-old epic poem that was the basis for Wagner’s four-opera drama The Ring of the Nibelung. Blood Red deconstructed the original source material in a richly layered modern theatrical experience laden with visual and aural imagery. Michael Manning’s illustrated graphic novel The Nibelungen (Sum Legio International, 2010) served as a primary visual inspiration for the piece,Mark Swed, Music critic for the Los Angeles called the show Cycle, “silly, irreverent and entirely worthwhile.”
silly, irreverent and entirely worthwhile.
-Mark Swed, LA Times
Award Winning Set Designer, Joel Daavid wrote of the production that “This show was the most amazing use of multi media I have ever seen. An visual tour de force use of opera type staging, projections, music and phenomenal costumes. One of the most original and innovative shows I have seen in a long time. Kudos to the amazing cast, director and especially sound designer. This definitely deserves more than 3 performances. I look forward to when it is mounted again and seeing it in a larger venue with a full production.”
