Opera Scotland

Costuming the Ring 2015Wagner Society of Scotland

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As usual the talk is held at the Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road EH4 3BL at 7.30pm. Prospective members are assured of a warm welcome

JOHN LIDDELL: "Telling the Story- costuming the Ring"

John Liddell was Costume Supervisor for Scottish Opera's Ring Cycle, produced between 2000 and 2003, and for the earlier productions of Das Rheingold (1989) and Die Walküre (1991). His job was to work with the directors and designers to bring their vision to reality, by creating over 200 different costumes for 180 performers, including rubber dresses, ravens' heads, silicone wigs, spectacles that light up, a flayed bear-skin and Walküre on stilts. He will discuss the artistic process and the practical difficulties involved in interpreting character through costume.

John graduated in Law from Glasgow University, but turned his back on the legal profession and joined the tailoring trade; finding his vocation, he has spent 45 years specialising in theatre costume. He worked for 15 years as a freelance theatrical costume maker before joining Scottish Opera in 1985 : initially as Gentlemen's Costume Cutter and since 2005 as Head of Costume. He has been involved in all of Scottish Opera's productions for the last 29 years and has also worked on productions for Scottish Ballet, the Citizens' Theatre, the Scottish Early Music Consort, Chichester Festival, Bregenz Festival (Austria), the Metropolitan Opera (New York), BBC, STV, and film productions. He is passionate about theatre and opera.

Admission: Members £7 / Non-Members £10