Directed by Jonathan Kent, designed by Paul Brown and lit by Mark Henderson, the production demanded a fire effect on stage at the end of the Act. Howard Eaton was presented with the challenge, "At the end of Act 1 there needs to be a lightning bolt from the heavens that results in Don Giovanni's palazzo being torched," he says.
Paul Brown's set was designed on the theme of a Pandora's Box, set on a huge revolve with the chamber's walls moving to reveal each scene. Director Jonathan Kent wanted the production to be fluid, "a white knuckle ride", and this added to the list of theatrical demands for the special effects; everything had to be as realistic as possible and either set in a blackout or in full view of the audience because the action never stops.
God's lightning bolt was the key issue as Howard Eaton explained. "Forked lighting for real cannot safely be done on stage. Extra high voltages from Tesla coils will create large spark lengths but are not often practical for use in the theatre. Flashes of light, however bright, cannot realistically reproduce a bolt of lightning." Howard and his team devised a custom steel armature that allowed coils of magnesium ribbon to be attached, ignited and launched down a micro steel wire cable as an intense source of light from the fly floor flashed simultaneously onto the centre of the stage.
As this scene was only the end of Act 1, the resulting fire caused by the bolt of lightning couldn't be allowed to set the scenery alight every night. The solution was to prepare individual items of furniture that could be ignited by members of the cast to give the effect of the room being engulfed by fire. Suitable pieces of furniture were selected from Glyndebourne's stock; some were used as found, but others were reproduced in a fireproof form by HELL in which flame and ignition systems were incorporated. Some of the chairs held trays for flame paste and were fitted with flash paper sprayed with zebra skin patterns to suit Paul Brown's La Dolce Vita late 1950s' design style of the production.
A chest of drawers was also modified to burst into flames on cue. One coffee table had several functions - it provided the micro-cable's anchor point for the flying lightning bolt to land and ignite a cloud of propane gas that was released on cue. On the tabletop a hinged candlestick was arranged to pump burning fluid onto the carpet below, prepared in advance by a reveller in front of the audience who 'carelessly' spilled fluid from a wine bottle onto the ground. When Don Giovanni took his defiant position on the table at the end of the scene, the candlestick knocked over, flames poured onto the carpet which lit up in front of him.
Flame paste cavities were built into a set of folding screens that created the biggest fire effect - a wall of flame - which provided the finale to the scene as the screens opened to expose a wall of fire.
Synchronising the multiple effects incorporated into the various pieces of furniture, sets and props was the final challenge, especially as they had been set during the action on the revolve. It was not practical to run wires to individual ignition points so a safe wireless system was developed at short notice by Howard's designers to allow a single operator to safely and reliably control all of the effects (except the wall of fire) from the side of the stage.
As the door of the chamber closed around Don Giovanni at the end of Act 1, he was surrounded in fire - "penned in his own hell" - courtesy of HELL. The opera was performed at Glyndebourne to the end of October, but it can still be seen on tour at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth (26 November) and The Regent Theatre, St
