Examples of work – Rigoletto, Opera Holland Park

Verdi’s Rigoletto

Opera Holland Park

In this industry linked project with Opera Holland Park, London, a team of students were allocated a budget by the company, to create 11 full-size female statues, for the set of a prestigious run of Verdi’s Rigoletto.

The statues are representative of the evil Duke of Mantua’s many female ‘conquests’, that he has specially commissioned and displayed at his infamous parties. Gilda, the daughter of begrudging hunchbacked court jester, Rigoletto, falls victim to the Duke’s seduction. Rigoletto’s tragic and obsessive protection of Gilda, leads him to take revenge, but Gilda’s selflessness leaves her father with the wrong corpse in his hands.

The statues began life as fibreglass mannequins. Head casts were taken of the female lead, Gail Pearson, and stand-in actors. Fibreglass heads were created and spliced onto the body of the mannequins. The dresses and the hair were tailored and sculpted to the body and head, respectively, of each mannequin, and set in Jesmonite (an acrylic based compound) and layers of fibreglass tissue for complete strength and rigidity.