Elliott Squire, Designer for La traviata at Buxton International Festival 2026
- Opera audiences know La traviata very well. How do you make a classic feel fresh without losing what people love about it?
For our production of La traviata, we wanted to stray from the classic “glitz and glam” of the courtesan’s world. Instead, we want to draw focus to this gilded cage that Violetta lives in, as a highly coveted courtesan in Parisian society. Although Violetta’s life may appear as a glamorous and alluring life on the surface, we wanted to highlight the more gritty, and oftentimes disturbing nature of the courtesan’s life. Our focus has been on this unsettling lack of agency and the cloistered nature of these women’s lives.
- As La traviata moves between public spectacle and private tragedy, it must be difficult to separate the two worlds on stage. Do you have any clever tricks up your sleeve?
We are embracing the image of a jewel box for our design, inspired by an image of the jewel box of Marie Duplessis, who was the original inspiration for Marguerite Gautier, the main character of La Dame aux Camélias – the inspiration for Violetta in La traviata. This box functions almost like a gilded cage itself, opening and closing to reveal the action throughout the opera. At times, the box resembles a mausoleum for Violetta, but it then can open to reveal a memory of the public spectacle and revelry that happens throughout the opera. In moments of quieter contemplation and reflection for the characters, namely during Violetta and Alfredo’s arias, the box’s movement emphasizes their inward thinking, their love for each other, and therefore their private tragedy.
- Your work often feels very character-driven – how will your designs reflect Violetta’s inner life rather than just 19th-century Paris or perhaps it’s set at some other time altogether?
We have decided to set our production at the turn of the century, in precisely the year 1900 in Paris, inspired by the film House of Tolerance directed by Bertrand Bonello, which chronicles the lives of several women trapped in a high-class brothel during this era. Much of this particular characterization will be achieved through our costume designer, Zahra Mansouri’s, detailed and layered work. However, the set design features a large portrait of Violetta on the exterior of our gilded box structure, emphasizing her constant presence in Alfredo’s mind, even after her death.
- We know you love colour. Might we see some pops of unexpected colour or perhaps a special La traviata scheme?
In collaboration with Zahra, we have distinct colour palette of costume, props, and furniture for each act (and scene!) of the opera, framed by two separate colour schemes of the exterior and interior of the box structure. The exterior of the box is a decaying gilt gold, metallic structure, that has a natural verdigris of blue/green deterioration on a base of earth tones. It opens up to a metallic, reflective, mirrored structure that emphasizes the inward reflection of Violetta, but also draws from literal moments of her reflection in mirrors in the libretto. Particularly in Act 1, we aim for the interior of the box to be revealed, and for the costume designs to pop against our mirrored textures, almost like jewels within this jewel box.
- I know you’ve worked on both large-scale and intimate opera and theatre productions. Does the scale of this production, Buxton Opera House and then its move to Norwich, change the way you approach the design?
The move of this production from the Buxton Opera House to Norwich comes with some technical challenges, such as creating a design that can sit on both the raked stage of Buxton and the flat stage surface of Norwich. When conceiving the design, we knew this had to be tourable in some form, and work in the two different proscenium theatres. This design can sit in a variety of different proscenium theatres, as it is like a self-contained piece that sits within a theatrical void.
- Are there any recurring visual motifs or symbols in your design that audiences might not notice immediately?
There are a variety of reflective surfaces in the design – in the scenic finishes, namely the interior of the jewel box structure. There is natural age and degradation on the exterior of the box, alluding to this mausoleum or final resting place of Violetta.
- You’ve designed both sets and costumes in many productions – does your understanding of costume influence the architecture or textures of the set?
I have been in conversation with Zahra Mansouri, our costume designer, throughout the design process, and we have been keeping each other updated with choice of colour and textures in our designs. My understanding of costume allows me to explore what is a dynamic and textured environment for the costumes to stand out from. The exterior of the box’s tones complement the tones that Zahra has chosen for Violetta’s costuming in many acts, and keeps her connected to her environment.
- What does your design reveal about Violetta that the libretto or music alone cannot?
The portrait on the front of the jewel box set design is a further emphasis on the miniature portrait, or locket, that Violetta gives to Alfredo at the end of the opera. We would like the set design to constantly haunt Alfredo throughout the piece, as Violetta’s memory does. It is an image that bookends our opera, with a cyclical and reflective feel.
- We know that education is a cornerstone of your work as a designer. Do you have some education projects this summer that you’d like to tell us about?
I will be set designing Carmen for Blackheath Halls Opera – a community opera project that brings members of the community, from 8 years old to 80, to take part in a fully staged opera production alongside leading opera singers. As part of this project, myself and the rest of the creative team lead different workshops during a Youth Chorus summer school week, giving a sneak-peak and insights into the entire opera making process.
- Favourite emoji?
A good old fashioned smiley face!
- Fish n Chips or Poutine?
Being born to English parents in Canada, I am a fan of both…but I have to say that fish n chips are the winner for me!