Vision 3 mood board

Briefs description:

Peter Grimes is an opera that explores the shadows and contradictions of the human mind, and the effect on an individual of their place – as perceived by themselves as well as by those they are surrounded by – in the wider community. Grimes’s implied suicide, as well as his behavior during the story, are classic symptoms (or perhaps even inevitable outcomes) of a life damaged by the effects of neglect, lack of empathy, and ensuing poor mental health. He strikes Ellen and is physically abusive to a child. The boy involved in the first death was his responsibility, even though we don’t know exactly what went wrong. But how are we to approach the question of blame? The society of The Borough (like many of its time) is hypocritical. It mistreats and abuses its young (the workhouse and the nieces), and then criticizes Grimes for doing the same. Children are silent, unable to communicate with adults. Society at large is brutal, shallow driven by an unbalanced desire for security and wealth. Abuse leads to abuse. I think this is what Britten meant when he said ‘the more vicious the society, the more vicious the individual’. I want to create a production that is, above all else, psychological. What setting could help make it clear this is as much about social and mental ill-health as it is about a particular fishing community? What could the sea stand for? Who or what else could the stock characters represent? I am looking for abstraction, outside-the-box thinking and striking visual metaphor.