The Light Princess

Once, in opposing kingdoms lived a princess and a prince who had lost their mothers.

Althea, unable to cry, became light with grief and floated, and so was locked away. Digby became so heavy-hearted that he could never smile, and so was trained as a warrior.

This new fairytale musical by Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson opened at the National Theatre, London in October 2013, directed by Marianne Elliott.

The production makes heavy use of illustrative, cut-out set pieces and puppetry. We worked with puppeteer and animator Matthew Robins, whose hand-made shadow puppets were stop-motion animated into video sequences for the show, including a stop-motion car chase, an introductory prologue movie, and various inserts, set pieces and backdrops throughout the show.

The show ran on 4 x 12k Panasonic projectors and was programmed entirely on ETC desks, cued via the NT’s existing lighting system.

Client:
National Theatre

Location:
Lyttelton Theatre, London, 2013

Services:
Video & Projection Design

Team:
Projection Designer: Ian William Galloway
Associate Designer: Leo Flint
Video Programmer: Salvador Bettencourt Avila
Video Designer: Matthew Robbins
Animator: Emma Pile
Animator: Lawrence Rowell

Production Credits:
Director: Marianne Elliott
Set and Costume Designer: Rae Smith
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Sound Designer: Simon Baker

Photos:
© IWG / Mesmer