PORTFOLIO
NICCE Afters
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Dec 2019
NICCE N Studio
Consultant Designer: Katie Eary
Mens Stylist: Sam Thompson
Womens Stylist: Alex Pantano
Directed by Andrew Whyment
Lighting Design by Jess Bernberg
Movement Director: Josie Daxter
Set Design by Max Johns
Photography by Charlotte Robinson
Hair by Fudge Hair
Makeup by Rebecca Richards using Bare Minerals
Production Electrician: Jay Brown Young
Photos by Charlotte Robinson
"To top it all off, the lights on set even shifted from dark to light to simulate that inevitable and excruciating sunrise. "
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Photos by John Hunter
by Alistair McDowall
Director: Anthony Lau
Set and Costume Design: James Donnelly
Sound Design: Anna Clock
Production Electrician: Ryan Eales
New Diorama / Mountview
December 2018
Pomona
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Photos by The Other Richard
by Josh Azouz
Director: Ned Bennett
Set and Costume Design: Max Johns
Sound Design: Giles Thomas
March 2018
The Yard
BUGGY BABY
"The piece is impeccably designed all round, from the fantastically creative set by Max Johns, which works beautifully with Jess Bernberg’s excellent lighting design" - Spy in the Stalls
"The hints of the surrealism to come are to be found in the clever staging by designer Max Johns and the lighting by Jess Bernberg." - The Independent
"Giles Thomas and Jess Bernberg max the sound and lights to make Buggy Baby a visceral watch that swings from humour to horror in a flash." - Whats On Stage
"The actors are aided by an imaginative set, beautiful lighting and a bold sound design." - Upper Circle
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The Poetry We Make
February 2018
Vaults Festival
Flugelman Productions
Director: Edwina Strobl
Set and Costume Design: Alexandra Kapsala
Photos by Lidia Crisafulli
"subtly lit by Jess Bernberg’s otherwise primary coloured design" - London Box Office
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Reactor
May 2018
ArtsEd
by Brad Birch
Director: Hannah Banister
Set and Costume Design: Basia Bińkowska
Sound Design: Anna Clock
Photos by Andy Williams
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Photos by Helen Murray
by Joe Harbot
Director: Cheryl Gallacher
Set and Costume Design: Bethany Wells
Sound Design: Josh Anio Grigg
June 2018
The Yard
A New And
Better You
"Jess Bernberg’s lighting design is original and mesmerising, in particular in the final climactic scene where we are made to feel as though we are in a desert; the lights perfectly mimic the sun, swirling sand and hot, blurry air." - Spy in the Stalls
"stellar work from lighting designer Jess Bernberg, every passing beat feeling distinctly different from the last, through to a claustrophobic, final sense of aimlessness at the close" - WhatsOnStage
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HOMOS, OR EVERYONE IN AMERICA
August 2018
Finborough Theatre
by Jordan Seavey
Director: Josh Seymour
Set and Costume Design: Lee Newby
Sound Design: Lex Kosanke
Photos by Marc Brenner
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Photos by Helen Murray
by Josh Azouz
Director: Ned Bennett
Set and Costume Design: Hannah Wolfe
Sound Design: Giles Thomas
Production Electrician: Alex Ramsden
and Callum McDonald
October 2018
Soho Theatre / NYT Rep Company
Victoria's Knickers
"Jess Bernberg's ballsy, exceptionally bright lighting nicely compliment the action without ever threatening to pull focus from it. The sort of design that you don't really even notice, which I do mean as a compliment"
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The Borrowers
December 2018
Tobacco Factory Theatres
by Mary Norton, Adapted by Bea Roberts
Director: Nik Partridge
Set and Costume Design: Rosanna Vize
Sound Design and Composition: David Ridley
Photos by Mark Dawson
"Jess Bernberg's magnificent lighting design, rich in colour but just on the right side of garish"
"Jess Bernberg’s glorious lighting"
"dramatic lighting from Jess Bernberg"
Cougar
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February 2018
Orange Tree Theatre
by Rose Lewenstein
Director: Chelsea Walker
Set and Costume Design: Rosanna Vize
Sound Design and Composition: Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
Production Electrician: Toby Cartmell
Photos by Richard Davenport
"superb lighting by Jess Bernberg (who did such an exquisite job on Jonathan Humphrey's 2017 production of The Death of Ivan Ilych). Bernberg's work, in particular, contributes powerfully to the story-telling here, as it skilfully delineates temporal and location shifts as well as providing a few moments of startling exposure"
"There is a rapid pace to the show, helped by Jess Bernberg's excellent lighting design which skillfully defines the separate scenes, from low mood lighting to eye-watering brightness."
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Photos by Holly Lucas
SEX SEX
MEN MEN
Yard Theatre
Feb 2019
Pecs Drag Kings
Director: Celine Lowenthal
Set and Costume Design: Jasmine Swan
Sound Design: Xana
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Aug 2019
HOME / Traverse
Co-Creators: Javaad Alipoor and Kirsty Housely
Set and Costume Design: Lucy Osborne
Sound Design and Composition: Simon McCorry
Video: Limbic Cinema
Photos by Peter Dibdin / Limbic Cinema
Rich Kids: a history of shopping malls in tehran
RUST
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July 2019
Bush Theatre
by Kenny Emson
Director: Eleanor Rhode
Set and Costume Design: Max Johns
Sound Design: David Gregory
Photos by Helen Murray
WE ANCHOR IN HOPE
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September 2019
The Bunker
by Anna Jordan
Director: Chris Sonnex
Set and Costume Design: Zoe Hurwitz
Sound Design: Emily Legg
Movement: Louise Kempton
Assistant Director: Rosemary Maltezos
Photos by Helen Murray
"Jess Bernberg's lighting and Emily Legg's sound perfectly coalesce with the overall vision, meaning the play exudes nothing but truth."
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October 2019
Donmar Warehouse
By Alice Birch
Director: Maria Aberg
Set and Costume Design: Rosie Elnile
Sound Design: Carolyn Downing
Video Design: Heta Multanen
Movement: Ayse Tashkiran
Lighting Programmer: Elliot Smith
Photos by Helen Maybanks
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Read the Whitelight Article:
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Nov 2019
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Dick Whittington
Book and Lyrics: David Watson
Music and Lyrics: Robert Hyman
Director: John Haidar
Set and Costume Design: Lily Arnold
Sound Design: Giles Thomas
Choreographer: Anna Morrissey
Musical Director: James Doughty
Production Electrician: Jay Brown Young
Photos by Ikin Yum
FCUK'D
Photos by Andreas Lambis
by Niall Ransome
Director: Niall Ransome
Set and Costume Design: Grace Venning
Composer: Peter Wilson
December 2017
The Bunker Theatre
"Jess Bernberg’s magnificent use of light, notably the effect created to suggest the distant flickering of a car on fire ... for a play and venue of this size, Venning [Set and Costume] and Bernberg’s respective designs leave a mark." - A Younger Theatre
"Lighting, designed by Jess Bernberg also plays an important role in Ransome’s vivid staging, day turning into night and vice versa, malfunctioning street lamps flickering and blue flashes from police cars signalling the arrival of a hostile presence." - Reviews Hub
"Jess Bernberg's lighting is subtle, its use of blue washes and occasional yellow tinges creating a neat atmosphere" - What's On Stage
"It’s elevated ... by Jess Bernberg’s lighting, a soft embrace of pink and orange, punctured occasionally by flashing blue lights and sirens." - The Stage
"The productions’ music (by Peter Wilson) and lighting (Jess Bernberg) are both invaluable to the overall impact of the play, and work really well alongside Mytum’s narration." -The Peg
"Jess Bernberg’s brilliantly effective lighting combines with Ransome’s words to show us things we can’t see, like the flickering orange of a flame, or the blue lights of an approaching police car." - A Blog of Theatre Things
"grabbing glimpses of moments bathed in Jess Bernberg’s cold, evocative lighting" - Everything Theatre
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The Death of Ivan Ilyich
October 2017
Merton Arts Space, Wimbledon
by Leo Tolstoy
Adapted by Stephen Sharkey
Director: Jonathan Humphreys
Set and Costume Design: Grace Venning
Composer: Ben Pearson
Photos by Claudia Marinaro
"The atmosphere is wonderful. Globes of light sit on round tables through which Ivan roams, masterfully creating the impression that we’re witnessing a séance." - TheatreBox
"The dimmed lights on each round table of seats, coupled with the haunting Russian background music, set the atmosphere perfectly as Tarlton opened the performance with a question. ...
The lighting and music worked well again as the play wound up." - WimbledonSW19
"Clever staging transforms Merton Arts Space into a low lit club" - The Culture Vulture
"a clever arrangement of circular dining tables, where you take your seat amongst seven or eight strangers, bathed in a celestial glow from the lanterns in the middle, is most effective." - Essential Surrey
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"Grace Venning and Jess Bernberg’s brilliant design (set/costume and lighting, respectively) places the audience at tables lit by lanterns, conjuring an atmosphere of séance that feels entirely appropriate for Sharkey’s revisioning of the material as a ghost story of sorts." - Boycotting Trends
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AND THE REST OF ME FLOATS
September 2017
Rose Lipman Building,
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Outbox Theatre
Director: Ben Buratta
Set and Costume Design: Rūta Irbīte
Sound Design: Dominic Kennedy
Photos by Matthew Ferguson
"Jess Bernberg’s lighting emphasises its generally sombre mood"
"The lighting and sound design – from Jess Bernberg and Dominic Kennedy, respectively – were subtle but creative, making the most of the otherwise rather limited space. Both were used particularly well in a scene where the cast undressed and redressed onstage, corralled and exposed with a spotlight."
- HisKind
BALM IN GILEAD
March 2017
Silk Street Theatre
Director: Joseph Blatchley
Set and Costume Design: Dora Schweitzer
Sound Design: Tom Bosworth
Photos by Clive Barda
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SQUIRM
By Serafina Cusack
Produced by: Appetite Theatre
Director: Oliver Yellop
July 2016
Bread and Roses, Theatre503, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, King's Head
Photos by Matthew Ferguson
The lighting design by Jess Bernberg managed to change the location from bathroom to pub to lounge in a way that the simple staging shouldn’t have allowed.
- Everything Theatre on SQUIRM 2016
"The lighting, by Jess Bernberg, is one of the highlights (pun intended): fairy lights create for us the atmosphere of a pub garden, red bulbs put us in a macabre mood, and spotlights send us to new locations and situations." - Hiive on SQUIRM 2016
"Switching between timelines, Jess Bernberg’s lighting design transports between scenes; one moment, a pub’s fairy lights adds romance to a bleak meeting of two individuals, then the grey drags back the grimness of Rory’s bathroom. It encompasses the stage, and on a small budget, with discomfort, places the audience into Rory’s private and disgusting state." - Live Theatre UK on SQUIRM 2017
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This is Matty, And He is Fucked
Dir: Jesse Angelo
Design: Andy Hart
Movement: Emma Naomi
October 2016
Winemaker's Club, Farringdon
Photos by Benjamin Wainwright
Jess Bernberg’s talent is apparent with her ensuring all actors and the action takes place under well-lit areas, something I imagine is difficult to achieve in a venue not designed for theatrical performances.