Costume and set designs revealed for 2015’s production of Aida.

Opera Australia has revealed a sneak peek of designer Mark Thompson’s eclectic designs for the upcoming Handa Opera on the Harbour production of Aida. Thompson has used a melting pot of different ethnic and historical influences to inform his aesthetic for the production, citing the iconography of Ethiopia, the opulence of the court of King Louis XVI and the vacuous, gaudy glamour of reality TV celebrities the Kardasians as his primary inspiration. Audience members should expect vibrant colours, dramatic headpieces, swirling ballgowns with bare midriffs and a copious amount of gold.

Thompson has previously delivered similarly lavish sets and costumes for Opera Australia in the past including for recent productions of The Force of Destiny and Orpheus and the Underworld. Opera Australia’s faith in Thompson’s design is clearly well deserved as this will be the first Opera on the Harbour production to have the same designer for both the set and costumes. The gargantuan task of creating over 300 costumes for Aida, many of which are highly intricate, is already underway, with Thompson describing the final effect as “wrapping the stage like a human work of art.”