Mahagonny
Set & Costume Designer: Yifei Deng
conceptual
Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
The story is set in a fictional city called Mahagonny, founded by three con artists. It becomes a place where people chase money and pleasure. But once the money runs out, the town quickly falls apart. The main character, Jimmy, is sentenced to death simply because he can’t pay for a drink. The plot is absurd and satirical, exposing the hypocrisy and collapse of capitalist society.
This production was a conceptual piece I created in collaboration with a director from the Royal Opera House. We reimagined Mahagonny set in post-flood New Orleans, creating a space filled with a sense of chaos and reconstruction. During my research, I found that death and skeleton imagery are recurring symbols in the city’s culture, so I incorporated skeletal elements into the stage design. The entire stage was conceived as a water surface, reflecting the city’s struggle between disaster and desire. I also explored how the opera’s characters represent various social classes and cultural identities, designing each one as a symbol of a specific era or culture to emphasize the fluid nature of identity and the absurdity within capitalist society.
Songspiel by Kurt Weill
Text by Bertolt Brecht
English translation by Irina Brook
Director: Harriet Taylor
Set & Costume Designer: Yifei Deng
