Pierre Yovanovitch designs movable backdrops for an Italian opera

A staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Theater Basel in Switzerland visually fabricates the dramatic Italian opera with a flexuous set design. Interiors and furniture designer Pierre Yovanovitch developed the subdued backdrops for the rich-plotted drama, in which power, vengeance, and innocence take center stage.

The opera is based on Le Roi s’amuse, a 1832 play by Victor Hugo. It recounts the story of a court jester Rigoletto, whose daughter, much to his demise, falls for the unscrupulous Duke of Mantua. From this, a tale of vengeance emerges, ultimately culminating in a tragic love story.

Yovanovitch has long admired operas and jumped at the opportunity to realize the set design for Rigoletto when invited by acclaimed director Vincent Huguet. His scenography takes on a curvaceous form realized as a series of movable circular partitions. These layers are symbolic representations of the plot denoting the elapse of time. As the story unfolds the curved walls move closer and closer in on each other. They are conceived as objects that can be adjusted, added, or removed for dramatic effect to simulate the themes and moods of the characters and storyline.

Pierre Yovanovitch designs movable backdrops for a staging of the Italian opera Rigoletto

Sinuous Scenography

Pierre Yovanovitch designs movable backdrops for a staging of the Italian opera Rigoletto

Pierre Yovanovitch designs movable backdrops for a staging of the Italian opera Rigoletto

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