The challenge of lighting Wagner's Ring

I knew it was going to be an unusual evening when, before the start of Das Rheingold, one of the musicians handed me a portable spotlight and asked me to help light the performance. We were sitting on Persian rugs arranged down the centre of a large tent, with the narrow gap between the carpets representing the Rhine (see picture above).
The Threepenny Ring Cycle was being performed at the 2006 Norfolk and Norwich Festival by the French music-theatre group Les Grooms (The Bell Boys), who are an offshoot of the Théâtre de l'Unité

The complete Threepenny Ring lasts for ninety minutes with a one minute interval, and is hugely enjoyable. But it is not just a fun piece. As the closing pages of Die Gottedamerung are reached the audience join Siegfried's funeral cortege and files out of the big top. But then there is a magical transformation from

Moments like this are rare in the theatre.
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