Eugene Onegin

Aleksandr Pushkin | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

MFA Lighting Design Thesis Paper Project  | Carnegie Mellon School of Drama | War Memorial Opera House

The goal of this project is to demonstrate that lighting design has the power to be the main driving force to show a political point of view. I will be using the opera Eugene Onegin to discuss the state of modern-day Russia through lighting design. My concept is to use the character of Tatiana to represent the sheltered modern-day Russian. Many Russian citizens are trapped in a world forcibly created for them. Yet many choose to accept that world because it gives them safety and some form of stability. Throughout the opera, information comes to Tatiana, and she is taken along with the tide of life. The world that Tatiana and her family live in is one of safety, security, and cocooned comfort.  In opposition, I will use the character of Onegin to represent the truth of what is actually happening in the outside world. When he enters a space, he brings that truth with him. Onegin is a disruptor. In this production, Onegin will create two major disruptions, the first is the duel, which will begin to reveal the cruelty of the real world, and the second is asking Tatiana to run away with him, which will reveal to her the information that she is lacking about the world around her and physically break open the space.