INDEPENDENT OPERA at Sadler's Wells

The Sofa and The Departure

Creative team

Madeleine Boyd
Set Designer
Madeleine graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Her recent opera designs include La gazzetta and La scala di seta for the Rossini Festival in Wildbad, Germany. Non-opera design work includes Rhymes, reasons and bombass beatz at the Oval Theatre, London; True Stories at the Drill Hall, London; and Vanda at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. She was recently the art director for the short film Venice – The History of Carnival for the Creative Experience, Venice. She has worked as assistant and revival designer for opera productions at La Scala, La Fenice, Vlaamse Opera, Antwerp, the Spoleto Festival and Central City Opera (Denver). Forthcoming productions include costume designing for Orfeo ed Euridice for Theatre Augsburg, Germany. Next year she will design Pelléas et Mélisande for INDEPENDENT OPERA.

Ryszard Andrzejewski
Costume Designer
Since graduating from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in 2001, Ryszard has assisted theatre and opera designers as a model maker as well producing his own design work, which includes set and costume designs for Ubu Roi, Rusalka, Baby With The Bathwater, Auction of Promises, The Promise, The Legend Of Beowulf: A New Musical and Roccoco-A-Gogo with Arts Band The Irrepressibles at the Hackney Empire. He has collaborated on Stonecrabs Theatre Company productions of Kafka’s Josephine The Singer, Waltz #6 and Charity Wars. His work for Josephine The Singer was exhibited as part of the Society of British Theatre Designers Collaborators’ Exhibition in Nottingham January 2007 and will be included in a forthcoming exhibition at the V&A Museum.

Matthew Haskins
Lighting Designer
Matt gained a BA (Hons) in Lighting Design at Rose Bruford College. His opera credits include ETO/Wolverhampton Grand (House on the Moon), RCM (Le nozze di Figaro), ETO (Orfeo), Classical Opera Company (Cosìfan tutte), RCM/ETO/London Handel Festival (Tolomeo) and Young Vic/ETO (Tobias & the Angel). His theatre credits include Albany Theatre (What Does it Take?), Gate Theatre (Mud), Arts Theatre London (The Pool), Trafalgar Studios (Lovely & Misfit), Kazzum UK Tour (Sorcerer’s Apprentice), Hackney Empire (Ana In Love), Bridewell (We’ll Gather Lilacs) and Riverside Studios (Four Knights in Knaresborough). Matt frequently lights for major drama schools such as Drama Centre London and Arts Ed. He has created architectural and site-specific project for The Shout/De La Warr Pavilion (Sea Tongue), ECOS Stones Somerset (Interactive Lighting Commission) and Greenwich & Docklands Festival (Encounters), as well as consultancy work specialising in aircraft interiors.

Hanna Gillgren
Movement
Hanna’s choreographic work has been performed at venues including the Biennale for Arts in Turin 2000; Gavalla Theatre, Zagreb; Theatre de Caen, France; Dansens Hus, Stockholm and Post Hof Teater in Linz, Austria. With Heidi Rustgaard, she is co-artistic director of h2dance, which was associate artist at The Place in 2001-2. In 2004 the company was selected as British representatives on the European Junge Hunde network. In 2004 she collaborated with film director Rachel Davies on Gold, an Arts Council Capture film that won the prestigious IMZ Dance on Screen Award. She choreographed Stor Stark Cowboys for Sweden’s national contemporary dance company NorrDans, Zygote for LUDUS Dance Company and new work for Cie Gaara in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2005 h2dance created a new work for the opera in Karlstad, Sweden, and the company is about to embark on a new touring production, To Die For.

Natalie Murray
Vocal Coach and
Assistant Conductor
Natalie studied at the Sydney Conservatorium, the Guildhall School and the National Opera Studio. She is a professor at the RCM and opera coach to the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme (ROH) and the National Opera Studio. She began her career on the music staff of the Welsh National Opera and continues her association with them as a guest artist. She has also worked for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, ETO, Savoy Opera, Opera Holland Park and the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. Natalie is the 2007 Conducting Scholar for the London Symphony Chorus and has assisted Rinaldo Alessandrini, Nicholas Kok, Peter Robinson and James MacMillan. She is currently conducting 20 Women Singing for the WNO.