The New York Times, The Witch of Edmonton
By Ben Brantley, February 4, 2011
“The production has been handsomely designed… Anka Lupes’s stark, subtly symbolic set borders a gaping pit of dirt with a wooden walkway and two houselike frames on either end. Civilized folk mostly stick to the walkway, but you’re aware that one slip of the foot, and they could be in the dirt, where Elizabeth and Dog spend most of their time.”
Curtain Up Review, The Witch of Edmonton
By Dr. Gregory A. Wilson, February 3, 2011
“The set in particular — a stage with a dirt floor, sinking down below eye level and leading to holes from which devils and witches emerge, flanked by scaffolds of houses — is truly inspired. The audience is split into two halves. One half sits practically onstage in what looks vaguely like a jury box …while the other is in a more traditional arrangement, able to watch both the performance and the audience-turned-jurors. Given the judgmental nature of the play, this is an inspired choice.“
The New York Times, Il mondo della luna
By Anthony Tomassini, January 20, 2010
“Anka Lupes, the costume designer, came up with the ingenious idea of lighting the actual costumes the characters wear during the lunar excursion, which included three dancers in white tights twirling illuminated hoops. The costumes were wildly inventive…”
Opera Now, Il mondo della luna
By Robert Levine, March/April 2010
“…the decision to outfit each costume with high intensity lights was brilliant- not only did they look properly out-of-this-world, they also lit the characters.”
The Huffington Post, Il mondo della luna
Fern Siegel, January 21, 2010
“The production, from the Gotham Chamber Opera, is masterful -- thanks to a remarkable cast and Anka Lupes' outrageously inventive costumes.”
Wall Street Journal, Kiss me Kate
By Heidi Waleson, August 13, 2008
“Thank heavens, "Kiss Me Kate" (1948) had color…and some hilariously over-the-top costumes by Anka Lupes, including a raspberry-hued dominatrix outfit for Kate, an animal-taming suit for Petruchio, and a nutty cut-off Elizabethan gown, with red tulle underneath, for Bianca. Diane Paulus's direction was tight and high-energy, taking the battle-of-the-sexes theme right to the edge –“
Chicago Classical Review, Mose in Egytto
By Lawrence A. Johnson, April 18, 2010
“Anka Lupes’ Minimalist unit set consisted of an effective sleek atrium skylight with glass pyramids, rising…to reflect the Israelites’ newfound freedom. Director Andrew Eggert wisely embraced the tableaux-like action rather than fighting it, with the principals and chorus arrayed on stage in various ceremonial positions, and stairs leading below to the captive Israelites.”
Chicago Tribune, Giasone
By John von Rhein, April 26, 2010
"Justin Way treats this serio-farcical conflation with much the same creative whimsy that marked the director's Handel "Orlando" for COT in 2008. Finding a useful analog to the bawdy sensibility of 1649 Venice in the anything-goes zeitgeist of the swinging 1960s, he keeps the complex plot moving along like a mock-heroic bedroom romp transplanted to mythic times. Set designer Anka Lupes and costumer Kimm Kovac dress the show in hot colors and whimsical trappings familiar from the early James Bond films, along with other '60s iconography."
Chicago Sun Times, Giasone
By Andrew Patner, April 26, 2010
“Young Australian director Justin Way sets things in sort of early '60s swinging London style with a touch of 007, and that mood and sense of harmless artifice actually meets Cavalli in a good place. Putting Medea in a bathtub is some sort of genius. Kimm Kovac’s Day-Glo costumes and the simple yet highly effective sets of Anka Lupes make a coherent whole.”
Chicago Classical Review, Giasone
By Lawrence A. Johnson, April 26, 2010
“With its plot reverses and melodramatic absurdities, director Justin Way has opted for updating Jason to a 1960s Bondian milieu, which on paper seemed a reasonable idea and worked visually with striking, fluent scenic design by Anka Lupes and Kimm Kovac’s clever retro-‘60s dresses and tuxes.”
Greenwich Village Gazette, Another Country
By Arlene McKanic, November 20, 2007
“Congratulations to set designer Anka Lupes for using the space so creatively. Lupes’ costumes capture the look of the early 60’s, with the men wearing those short sleeved striped shirts and porkpie hats and the women in period dresses with cinched in waists and full skirts (though there’s one very lovely cheomsong)….”