Stephen Dodd
Selected credits
- Il Teorema Di PasoliniDeutsche Opera, Berlin/ Dead Centre
- The Quare Fellow/ The Long Christmas Dinner/ An OctoroonAbbey Theatre
- Illness as Metaphor/ Good Sex/ To Be A Machine 2.0/ Beckett's Room/ Hamnet/ Chekov's First Play/ LIPPYDead Centre
- The Prometheus Project/ VolcanoAttic Projects/ Galway International Arts Festival
- Dark Days Need Ceremony: KING/SHRINE /Night Dances/ Birdboy/ Girl Song/ Dancehall/ DogsUnited Fall
- What We HoldJean Butler/ Lovano
- A Thing I Cannot Name/ Orfeo ed EuridiceIrish National Opera
- Crossing Skin/ Dances Like a Bomb/ The Misunderstanding of MyrrhaJunk Ensemble
About
Stephen Dodd is an award winning Lighting Designer for theatre, dance, and opera based in Dublin and Cork. He trained at The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College. He won Best Lighting Design Irish Times Theatre Awards 2022 for Volcano, Luke Murphy/ Attic Projects and is nominated for Best Lighting Design Irish Times Theatre Awards 2023 for An Octoroon, Abbey Theatre.
Recent lighting designs include Il Teorema Di Pasolini (Deutsche Opera, Berlin/ Dead Centre), The Quare Fellow, An Octoroon, The Long Christmas Dinner (Abbey Theatre), Illness as Metaphor, Good Sex, To Be a Machine 2.0, Beckett’s Room, Hamnet, Chekhov’s First Play, LIPPY (Dead Centre), The Prometheus Project, Volcano (Luke Murphy/ Attic Projects), The Jesus Trilogy (Once Off Productions), Darks Days Need Ceremony: King / Shrine, Night Dances, Birdboy, Girl Song, Dancehall (United Fall), What We Hold (Jean Butler / Lovano), Animals (Louise White Performance), Morrígan, Heart of a Dog (John O’Brien), A Thing I Cannot Name, Orfeo ed Euridice (INO), The Here Trio, I/Thou, Wrongheaded (Liz Roche), Crossing Skin, Dances Like a Bomb, The Misunderstanding of Myrrha (Junk Ensemble) The Examination, The Circus Animal’s Desertion (Brokentalkers), Eastland (The Collective), Company (Company SJ) and riverrun (The Emergency Room).
Featured work
IL TEOREMA DI PASOLINI
Deutsche Opera, Berlin/ World Premiere
Conducted by Daniel Cohen
Directed by Dead Centre
Set & Costume Design by Nina Wetzel
Video Design by Sébastien Dupouey
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd
IL TEOREMA DI PASOLINI is the first work to be produced by the British-Irish theatre collective Dead Centre for the stage of an opera house.
The Quare Fellow
Main Stage, Abbey Theatre
Directed by Tom Creed
Set Design by Paul O’Mahony
Costume Design by Catherine Fay
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd
Sound Designer & Composer: Mel Mercier
‘Stephen Dodd’s excellent atmospheric lights…’
The Arts Review
‘Stylish, moving and memorable’
★★★★ Irish Examiner
Volcano
Attic Projects/ Galway International Arts Festival/ St Ann's Warehouse, NYC
Directed and Choreographed by Luke Murphy
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd
Set Design Alyson Cummins and Pai Rathaya
Costume Design by Pai Rathaya
Composition and Sound Design by Rob Molone
WINNER OF BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
IRISH TIMES THEATRE AWARDS 2022
“This is absorbing, exciting, creepy, clever. The tech and design are impressive.”
★★★★ The Guardian
The Jesus Trilogy
Once Off Productions/ Project Arts Centre
Adapted by Eoghan Quinn in collaboration with Annabelle Comyn
Directed by Annabelle Comyn
Choreographer: Megan Kennedy
Set and Costume Designer: Tom Piper
Lighting Designer: Stephen Dodd
Composer and Sound Designer: Philip Stewart
Audio Visual Designer: Michael Dunne
★★★★★ The Reviews Hub
An Octoroon
Main Stage, Abbey Theatre
Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike
Set Design by Sabine Dargent
Costume Design by Molly O’Cathain
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd
Photograph by Ros Kavanagh
NOMINEE BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
IRISH TIMES THEATRE AWARDS 2023
‘Stephen Dodd’s lighting underscores (the) immaculately detailed performances.’
The Arts Review
The Long Christmas Dinner
Peacock Stage, Abbey Theatre
Directed by Sarah Jane Scaife & Raymond Keane
Set Design by Sally Withnell
Costume Design by Sinead Cuthbert
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd
Sound Design by Aoife Kavanagh
‘Stephen Dodd’s lighting design gives the action an otherworldly, ghostly effect, even as the white light that draws the characters in turn into the wings is the true physical manifestation of death’s inevitability.’
The Irish Times
What We Hold
Jean Butler/ Dublin Theatre Festival
Created and Choreographed by Jean Butler
Composer and Sound Design: Ryan C Seaton
Design: Katie Davenport
Lighting Design: Stephen Dodd
‘An astonishing dance work, a visual, aural, almost poetic performative archive of Irish step dance.’
★★★★★ The Irish Times
★★★★★ The Arts Review
Good Sex
Dead Centre/ Samuel Beckett Theatre/ European Tour 2023/ Irish Tour 2024
Director: Ben Kidd
Writers: Dead Centre with Emilie Pine
Dramaturg: Bush Moukarzel
Stage Design: Aedín Cosgrove
Lighting Design: Stephen Dodd
Sound Designer & Composer: Jenny O'Malley
Night Dances
United Fall/ ZOO Southside, Edinburgh Fringe
Created & Choreographed (with the dancers) by Emma Martin
Music by Daniel Fox
Design: Katie Davenport
Lighting Design: Stephen Dodd
‘Raucous, loud, sweaty… a thrilling hour of relentless dancing and music’
★★★★ Irish Times
‘Ecstasy on the dancefloor…ferocious’
The Guardian
ORFEO ED EURIDICE
INO/ Irish Baroque Orchestra
Conducted by Peter Whelan
Directed by Emma Martin
Set Design by Sabine Dargent
Costume Design by Catherine Fay
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd
The Misunderstanding of Myrrha
Junk Ensemble/ DDF Commission
In partnership with the Abbey Theatre
Creation by Jessica Kennedy, Megan Kennedy, Alice Maher
Direction & Choreography by Jessica Kennedy and Megan Kennedy.
Scenography & Costume Design by Alice Maher
Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd
Costume by Sarah Foley
Photography by Fionn McCann
‘Exquisite and unforgettable.’
★★★★ The Arts Review
‘Combines visual eloquence with the gut-punch of a victim impact statement.’ ★★★★ The Irish TImes
Bird Boy
United Fall
Created by Emma Martin in collaboration with:
Kevin Coquelard- Performer
Orla Clogher- Visual Artist and Designer
Dunk Murphy- Sound Designer and composer
Stephen Dodd- Lighting Designer
“…powerful and ground-breaking…breathtakingly vivid.”
★★★★ The Scotsman
Chekhov's First Play
Dead Centre/Battersea Arts Centre
Text by Anton Chekhov, Ben Kidd and Bush Moukarzel
Directed by Ben Kidd and Bush Moukarzel
Set Design by Andrew Clancy
Effects and Onstage Design byGrace O'Hara
Costume Design by Saileóg O'Halloran
Lighting by Stephen Dodd
Sound Design by Jimmy Eadie and Kevin Gleeson
Choreography Liv O'Donoghue
‘A brilliant endeavour. Riveting to watch.’
★★★★ Irish Times
riverrun
Based on Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce
Adapted, Performed, Directed by Olwen Fouére
Co-Director: Kellie Hughes
Lighting Designer: Stephen Dodd
‘impeccably lit by Stephen Dodd…’
★★★★ The Guardian