KJ
KJ is a UK based lighting designer working globally across Theatre, Ballet, Opera & Live Performance Art.
They trained at the University of Hull, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, and the ALPD Lumiere 20:20 Scheme.
KJ’s work includes working with major national & international ballet companies such as Birmingham Royal Ballet, Royal Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba & Ballet de l’Opera de Nice.
“Black Sabbath - The Ballet - Birmingham Royal Ballet
KJ’s lighting adds a brooding presence that encapsulates the light and dark of both the music and the human
experience encapsulated in it.”
“Persephone - Dutch National Ballet
The light of British lighting designer KJ makes me gasp. A stripe of white on the high horizon at the beginning
widens, doubles and progresses to fire red in the underworld. Not through gradations in sweet pink, but through
shades that I - boom - recognize as blood in water. And Persephone.”
“Black Waters - Phoenix Dance Theatre
KJ’s lighting design is outstanding.”
“Romeo and Juliet - Liverpool Everyman
KJ’s lighting is both striking and subtle.”
“Dynolwaith - Sherman Theatre
Gethin Evans’ brilliantly claustrophobic direction and KJ’s dazzling lighting cleverly trapped the character in a box
from which he was desperate to break free.”
Gallery
2026
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Little Shop of Horrors | Derby Theatre & Northern Stage, Dir. Sarah Brigham | Lulu | Bristol School of Acting, Dir. Natalie Simone | Casse Noisette | Ballet de l'Opéra de Nice, Chor. Benjamin Miliipied, Lighting Des. Lucy Carter, Associate Lighting Des. KJ | Danse En L'île Festival Jeunes Ballet | Bâtiment des Forces Motrices |
2025
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Winter Draft Works | Royal Ballet & Opera, Chor. Matthew Ball & Denilson | Nocturne | Ballet de l'Opéra de Nice, Chor. Juliano Nunes | Astitva | Jaivant Patel Company, Chor. Jaivant Patel | Dynolwaith | Fran Wen/Sherman Theatre, Dir. Gethin Evans | Romeo and Juliet | Liverpool Everyman, Dir. Ellie Hurt | Home & Horizons Festival | Birmingham Rep | Noises Off | New Wolsey Theatre, Tour, Dir. Douglas Rintoul, Sound Des. Helen Atkinson, Lighting Des. KJ | Lil.Miss.Lady | Barbican/HighRise Theatre, Dir. Dominic Garfield | United Dances of America | Le Ballet de l'Opéra Grand Avignon, Co-Chor. Rena Butler, Stephen Shropshire, Mike Tyus & Luca Renzi | The F*****s and their Friends | MIF/Park Avenue Armory, Dir. Ted Huffman, Lighting Des. Bertrand Couderc, Associate Lighting Des. KJ |
2024
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Alice in Wonderland | Shakepseare North, Dir. Nathan Powell |
| El Peso Del Instante | Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Chor. Pontus Lidberg |
| Persephone | Het Nationale Ballet, Chor. Rena Butler |
| Der Fleigender Holländer | Persona Arts, Dir. Iqbal Khan | On The Nature of Rabbits | Venice Biennale/Joyce Theater, Chor. Pontus Lidberg | Lines | Roots Mbili/Sheffield Theatre, Dir. Junaid Sarieddeen |
2023
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Jockstrap | Jockstrap/Barbican | Flip! | Fuel Theatre, Dir. Emily Aboud | Traces Through Time | Fallen Angels Dance Theatre/Linbury Theatre, Chor. Paul Bayes Kitcher | Black Sabbath - The Ballet | Birmingham Royal Ballet, Co-Chor. Pontus Lidberg, Raul Reinoso & Cassi Abranches | Applause | Guildford School of Acting, Dir. Stewart Nicholls | Company | Guildford School of Acting, Dir. Alison Pollard | My Borhter's Keeper | Theatre 503, Dir. Robert Awosusi |
2022
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Who's Holiday | Tuckshop, HOME & Southwark Playhouse, Dir. Kirk Johnson |
| SHED | Northern Rascals, Co-Chor. Anna Holmes & Sam Ford | Dogs | Liverpool Playhouse, Dir. Nathan Powell | Illegal Dance | Avant Garde Dance, Chor. Tony Adigun | Hotel | Birmingham Royal Ballet, Chor. Morgann Runacre-Temple | Happy Meal | Traverse Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth & Roots, Dir. Jamie Fletcher | Der Fleigender Holländer | Persona Arts, Dir. Iqbal Khan | Celebrated Virgins | Theatre Clwyd, Dir. Eleri B. Jones | Black Is... | Fubunation/Sadlers Wells, Chor. Fubunation | As You Like It | Northern Broadsides, Dir. Laurie Sansom |
Pre 2022
Production |
Company |
|---|---|
| Decades: Stories From the City | Leeds Playhouse, Co-Dir. James Brining, Amy Leach, Evie Manning, Sameena Hussain, Amanda Huxtable & Tess Seddon | Black Waters | Phoenix Dance Theatre, Chor. Sharon Watson | Aperture | Trinity Laban, Chor. Kerry Nicholls | Khepri | Joss Arnott Dance, Chor. Anabelle Lopez Ochoa | Head Above Water | Joss Arnott Dance, Chor. Joss Arnott | HE-SHA | Trinity Laban, Chor. Theo Lowe | The Sea Tells a Story | Verrve, Chor. Ben Wright |