Projection Art in Slingsby’s Ode to Nonsense

Ode to Nonsense, a new family opera created by Slingsby that premiered at Her Majesty’s Theatre in May 2013, incorporated projection art and animation by illuminart. Cindi Drennan and Luku Kukuku worked with director Andy Packer and set and lighting designer Geoff Cobham to design projection for the “immersive flying hedge” and stage pieces. Alister Ferguson worked with illuminart to create birds, animated on steamer trunk and… large underpants!

Ode to Nonsense tells the story of Edward Lear, an artist who lived with epilepsy his whole life yet left incredibly beautiful travel paintings, copious nonsense poetry and drawings as his lifetime legacy. Lear’s artwork was animated into projection of creatures of his nonsense world, accompanying the scenes of travel and his alternative world – the Gromboolian Plain.

These beautiful photographs of some of the scenes featuring projection are by Andy Rasheed of Eyefood, and feature the Ode to Nonsense stars Nicholas Lester as Edward Lear, Johanna Allen as Gussie, and Adam Goodburn as Giorgio.