Assistant Scenic Design for Soldier Songs at the Pittsburgh Opera
Written by David T. Little
Conducted by Mark Trawka
Directed by Kaley Karis Smith
Scenic Designer - Mengyi Liu
Pittsburgh Opera described our production saying "Soldier Songs combines element of theater, opera, rock-infused-concert music, and animation to explore the perceptions versus the realities of the Soldier, the loss and exploitation of innocence, and the difficulty of expressing the truth of war. Soldier Songs asks tough questions and tells tough stories through its poignant libretto, driving and devastating music, and surprising visual counterpoint. The tension between the visual and aural experience works to dispel any potential numbness felt by those lucky enough to only experience war through the comfort of their living rooms."
Our design was inspired by explorations of regret, loss, and manipulation. The opera was created from interviews of veterans of five wars. Due to this it was important to the team to avoid creating a world unique to any single one of the wars the stories were built from. The production took place during the COVID-19 pandemic with an initial plan to perform to a small live audience. However by the time of performances the pandemic had worsened, leading us to live stream the performances.
