15th February 2024 10.45am and 2.15pm. Simultaneous transmission a.m. only
Simon Rees
Theatre has always been known for its capacity for creating illusion and suspending disbelief. Simon Rees draws on centuries of disguises, masks, make-up, ingenious apparatuses, trick trapdoors, smoke, mirrors and bungee-jumping Rhinemaidens, bringing his entertaining account of theatre illusion up to the present day.
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The tricks of the 18th and 19th century theatres are exposed in all their working machinery, including the celebrated Pepper’s Ghost, and modern theatre’s copious use of illusion, developed in competition with that of the cinema, is explored in artistic and technical detail.
Simon Rees studied at Colchester Royal Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge, receiving a BA and an MA in English Literature. Taught in Italy and Japan, exploring the art and architecture of both countries. From 1989 to 2012 was Dramaturg at Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, working with set, costume and props designers and giving lectures on their work in opera production. Now a freelance writer and lecturer, lectures widely on opera, art history and literature, travelling extensively with travel companies. Has published several novels, including the award-winning The Devil's Looking-Glass, poems and opera librettos.
