Francesca Gilpin

Director, lighting designer

Francesca’s first work for Opera Omnibus was the lighting of Rossini’s Cinderella in 1999. She was then Lighting Designer with Bruce J. Williams on A Masked Ball (February 2000).

Thereafter, Francesca began directing productions. With Opera South, she had great success and critical praise in February 2001 directing Stanislaw Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor, and she was Stage Director on Beatrice di Tenda (February 2003).

Francesca was originally a lawyer. She started her theatre career in commercial theatre and then worked as a production manager at the Gate Theatre in London. From there she moved to the BBC and worked in programme production as Location Manager, Production Manager, First Assistant and Director. (As Production Manager, shows she worked on included Adrian Edmondson & Rik Mayall’s comedy series Bottom.)

After nine years she returned to the theatre, and her directing credits included Tom Stoppard’s On the Razzle; Peter Nichols’s Passion Play; a musical version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Edward Albee’s Zoo Story; and two one act oper17 by Romanian composer Nicolae Bretan.

In 2001 (the year she had such great success with Opera South directing The Haunted Manor, Francesca also directed La Bohème for Surrey Opera. She directed Händel’s Rodelinda for Glyndebourne Opera Festival in 2004. Thereafter she became Artistic Director at Opera By Definition based at The Trinity Arts Theatre, Tunbridge Wells; productions she has directed there include Eugene Onegin and Die Zauberflöte, plus their November 2007 production of Händel’s Tamerlano.

Francesca has often worked with Bruce J. Williams doing lighting design. Their credits include La figlia del mago (Lorenzo Ferrero) for the Brighton Festival, and The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams). Francesca also worked on lighting for several musicals, and for Bernstein’s Mass at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2000.

Information partly derived from the programme accompanying Beatrice di Tenda (February 2003)