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Robert Thomson

Christian Van Horn and Karen Cargill in 'Bluebeard's Castle.' iPhoto caption: Christian Van Horn and Karen Cargill in 'Bluebeard's Castle.'

REVIEW: COC’s Bluebeard’s Castle/Erwartung is a hypnotic exploration of light

Rather than retread the ground of an overall analysis, I’d like to zoom in on an element that particularly interested me: Simonovitch Prize-winning designer Robert Thomson’s expressionistic lighting for Bluebeard’s Castle, which nicely enriches the opera’s ambiguous psychological landscape.

By Liam Donovan / May 14, 2026