For the last few months I have been busy designing three products for the children's section of the shop at Glyndebourne Opera House and I'm delighted to say that they are now available online. They include a tea towel that can be made into two character dolls from Mozart's The Magic Flute, a flat pack toy theatre and a Glyndebourne themed colouring book.
The green, blue and pink Papageno is a hand painted prototype.
Working with the team at Glyndebourne has been a delight. I first met them when they gave me a socially distanced, guided tour around the beautiful grounds of the opera house, so that I could gather inspiration for the colouring book. They introduced me to the many stone pugs who laze around on the edges of ponds, at the foot of statues and on flowerbed walls. Apparently pugs are synonymous with the Christie family, they have even held garden parties for pugs in the gardens there. I have tried to capture the life, beauty and features of Glyndebourne in the pages of my colouring book. I'm desperate to know what Glyndebourne regulars think of it.
Inspiration for the tea towel took me back to my childhood and a story book of The Magic Flute, magnificently illustrated by Emanuelle Luzzati. I remember staring at those riotous illustrations for hours. The colours, patterns and bold mark making have an almost folk art quality to them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Emanuelle Luzzati had been commissioned to design the set and costumes for the 1963 production of The Magic Flute at Glyndebourne (thank you Willy Or Won't He for the information and for introducing me to the delightful film)! I have given the characters Papageno and Papagena a folk feel, using colours that echo my 1970s' childhood.
The flat pack, wooden theatre that I designed is easy to assemble and requires no glue or special equipment, so it can be packed away when not in use. I have left it plain so that it can be customised by its owner to reflect their theatrical aspirations. Both sides of the curtain and wings can be painted to create a multitude of scenarios. And if you need a change of scene you can simply paint over it!
You can find the theatre and tea towel in my shop and the Glyndebourne colouring book is available in their online shop.
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