Award-winning Scenic and Costume Designer Leslie Travers. Photo via Linkedin.
(Santa Fe, NM) - Here at Opera Innovation HQ, there’s one production of Salome by which all others are compared (and we’re not even talking about the artists on stage or in the pit, as incredible as they were). Santa Fe Opera’s 2015 production, designed by Leslie Travers and directed by Daniel Slater, happened to be my introduction to Richard Strauss’ one-act opera. Travers and Slater brilliantly constructed their Salome inside the pre-WW1 world of Freudian-infused Viennese high society, with a revolving set that took this opera goer on psychological journey we’ll never forget. Mr. Slater’s direction was critical to the success of this production, but Mr. Travers’ visual storytelling, fused with Strauss’ music and Hedwig Lachmann’s libretto, made Salome absolutely indelible for us.
I didn’t have the opportunity to meet Mr. Travers until a few years later, but we’ve stayed in touch across social media, and early last year I was thrilled for his upcoming 2020 Rusalka with Ailyn Pérez (we’re hoping Santa Fe will reschedule).
We’ve shared the global equalizer of COVID together, but our individual experiences remain our own. For far too many, it’s been a terrifying or, sadly, deadly experience. Almost exactly a year ago, the pandemic already sweeping the world, I happened to catch one of Mr. Travers’ first tweets about recovering from this disease. It was a terrible shock since I hadn’t yet personally known anymore who’d been exposed or was ill. I sent a message of support and received a positive message in return, as I watched him continue to work as he recovered through the summer, something we explored further during a phone conversation in early January 2021, with the intent of creating this Q&A. We’re convinced that as terrible as COVID was for him, Travers has undoubtedly emerged an even more dedicated and inspired artist. JM
OI: Based on our conversation in early January, my takeaway then and now was that you've moved to a more powerful place as an artist, a creative. Even after experiencing the terror and unknowableness of COVID-19, I heard fortitude and a sense of excitement in your voice. You mentioned how at the beginning of the pandemic, you'd quickly pivoted to remote with assistants working in Lebanon and Chicago, staying flexible, even as declination letters began to pour in. That, in your words, this beginning of loss was eventually followed by a letting go of what was, creating space for discovery and new ways to move forward and stay active. Depending upon where each of us lives, how 2021 will play out for opera and the population at large remains an open question. How are you approaching the next several months to a year? Any predictions?
LT: Undoubtedly this time had been challenging but I feel highly optimistic. I have been much more closely involved with companies as they explore the way ahead. Being adaptable and flexible as well as helpful absolutely work best at the moment. I think we will have an uplift of creativity. Look at history. In the meantime anything we can do to make sure our industries survive is worth pursuing.
“Art is so much more than an entertainment, it is survival and it gives acceptance of the inevitable. I listened to music when I felt at my most ill and it was a total experience. I lived it.”
OI: I nearly fell out of my chair when you said that you designed a show for La Scala when you were feeling most ill. Many of us have probably wondered how we'd cope if we were isolated at home, ill with COVID. And then you went and answered that very question - you created, you challenged your situation and did your best to stay on course. Not to embarrass you, but that example of artistic determination is something I'll always remember when faced with difficult challenges, professional or otherwise. You mentioned how this has all positively impacted your creative process, given you greater awareness, insight on how to "be kind to yourself," and the ability to work and produce in a calmer way. Could you speak to these profound personal and professional discoveries?
LT: COVID-19 is a mysterious and brutal illness. You can’t fight it, it does what it wants with you. I was extremely aware of that at the time. In my moments of lucidity within the illness the thought of work gave me some vibrancy. Art is so much more than an entertainment, it is survival and it gives acceptance of the inevitable. I listened to music when I felt at my most ill and it was a total experience. I lived it. That time has left a mark on me in a positive way. I feel enormously happy to be here and to continue with my work.
“I have had a lot of time to work on process, to look at how I extract or uncover the visual world from an opera. I am cursed, or blessed, with a lot of nervous energy. Even in lockdown work has remained a thrill ride of exploration. I guess you channel the attributes you have.” - Leslie Travers
OI: The UK was mostly in lockdown when we spoke, but you mentioned how returning to your London studio was a joy i.e. re-engaging your creative process in a more thoughtful way; that you loved the "layering" of this process i.e. building theoretical and then physical environments for singers to inhabit, interact with and then bring to life through story and music. You also mentioned how "the design process is isolating, not sociable" while the onstage element (presumably in a city or urban area) is the exact opposite, with multiple, one to one and one to many opportunities to listen, interact and collaborate. For years, I've gotten lost in your beautiful Facebook photos of the coast and sea taken from your home in Ballycastle, County Antrim. You actually brought it up when you mentioned how this "rural focus" allows you to concentrate more on the dramaturgy of a given work, "looking at the music in deeper, more concentrated ways with less distraction." You also mentioned how 2020 made this all the more apparent for you, and has changed your work in "a positive way." Would love to hear more about this rural / urban dichotomy, and how it continues to help you in new and perhaps improved ways.
LT: I like the contrast of working in both environments. The “rural focus” is intense and open. I can ask the big questions of the work here in North Antrim and think freely and playfully. London is executing the work, making models and drawings. I will divide my time between the two places and to explore how this influences and how it enhances my work.
“Work in progress in the studio. #design #theatre” | Follow Leslie Travers on Twitter.
OI: Having literally survived 2020, the new year is here, as is the potential for better things ahead. What’s happening in your world?
LT: I have been working with the Israel Opera. I’ve delivered a production and I haven’t even been to Israel yet. I feel that I’ve gotten to know the (Israel Opera) staff in a much more personal way. Even over Zoom! It’s been a joy. I’m also looking forward to opening Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Wagner’s home town of Leipzig. It’s a thrill to do Wagner in Germany. I’m also on an exciting adventure with Bartók for Greek National Opera and exploring working in film, but in the right way for me. Right now, I can say that I’m working with a filmmaker in the United States who has a liberating and joyously abstract view of the world.
Read Leslie Travers’ recent interview in The Scenographer magazine.