Carmen at Blackheath Halls: How Four Graffiti Workshops Painted an Opera Set
For Blackheath Halls' production of Carmen, the stage didn't arrive covered in graffiti. It arrived as plain grey stone. Over four Paintbox workshops, 45 people in hazmat suits painted it can by can, right there in the theatre, until every step and pillar was covered. Here's how it came together.
The brief
Set designer Elliott Squire's stone amphitheatre for Carmen was designed to be covered in graffiti. Blackheath Halls brought us in to paint it through a series of graffiti workshops, so the graffiti on stage was painted for real by the people taking part.
The look was agreed with Elliott before anyone picked up a can. We kept to a tight palette of greys, white, black and charcoal with a light turquoise, all in a matte finish, and a blood-red Carmen tag repeated across the set so the show's name turns up wherever you look.
Painting a set that's already built
Most of our workshops happen on a wall. This one happened on a stage. The set was already in its final position inside the theatre, so every session was painted in place: up the steps, round the pillars and across the floor the cast would be performing on.
Each session followed the same rhythm as any Paintbox workshop. Everyone suited up in hazmat suits, masks and gloves, learned the basics of can control and caps, and then got painting on the set with our artists on hand. Each group picked up where the last one left off, so the set filled up session by session.
Four sessions, one stage
- 4 workshops run inside Blackheath Halls in September 2026
- 45 people painting across the four sessions
- Every surface covered: steps, pillars, the top beam and the floor
- A finished stage ready for the production, with the big red Carmen piece on the floor at its centre
The set on stage
Then the lights went down, and the cast performed on the steps our workshop groups had painted, with the orchestra playing behind the pillars.
Want to do something like this?
Carmen is a good example of what an on-site workshop can do. We bring the paint, the safety kit and the artists to you, and your group paints something that actually gets used, whether that's a theatre set, a school wall, a festival build or your own venue.
Our standard graffiti workshops run at our New Cross base, the Leake Street tunnels or your own space, and bigger projects like this one are quoted around what you want to make. If you're new to it all, here's what to expect at a graffiti workshop, and for company groups, see graffiti workshops for team building.
Credits
Production and venue: Blackheath Halls. Set design: Elliott Squire. Graffiti workshops: Paintbox Graffiti. Performance photos: Julian Guidera. See everyone we've worked with →
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