Director & Artist
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, English National Opera ‘24
★★★★ - The Guardian
★★★★ - The Observer
★★★★ - The Times
★★★★ - Bachtrack
“The focus might have been undermined by circumstance, torn as we were between watching the compelling Johnston and the equally magnetic Crispin Lord (an ENO staff director), sensuously and seductively walking the role of Judith. But the evening gathered a fiery energy of its own, and the work’s mysteries scorched our senses.”
- Fiona Maddocks, The Observer
“Assistant director Crispin Lord, clad in Judit’s white dress, performed the action — with such brilliant commitment that by the end his role almost seemed part of the concept”
- Neil Fisher, The Times
“The role was acted, meanwhile, wonderfully well, by Crispin Lord, one of ENO’s staff directors, handsome yet androgynous in a white singlet and silk skirt, so that Bluebeard’s final partner, in a remarkable twist, effectively becomes his husband rather than his wife.”
- Tim Ashley, The Guardian
“Staff director Crispin Lord “walked” the role with such evocative style that the symbolism seemed heightened. The term “walked” seems hardly just in describing a set of movements that veered into performative dance on occasion – Lord’s grip on the choreography was virtuosic in its own right.”
- Dominic Lowe, Bachtrack
Conductor: Lidiya Yankovskaya
Director: Joe Hill-Gibbins
Assistant Director: Crispin Lord
Set Design: Rosanna Vize
Costume: Sarah Bowen
Lighting: Ian Jackson-French
Bluebeard: John Relyea
Judith (original): Allison Cook
Judith (cover voice): Jennifer Johnston
Judith (cover actor): Crispin Lord
Prologue: Leo Bill