The prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company has bet on a young Bermudian to bring its latest productions to light.

Ryan Day, a 25-year-old lighting designer, was hired by the British institution for its latest production of Pericles, which is to run in Stratford-upon-Avon until September 21 before crossing the Atlantic for a run in Chicago from October 20.

The company has also hired Mr Day to light a new adaptation of The Red Shoes, scheduled to open in November.

“There is quite a scary level of trust that I have been given,” he said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but it’s exciting as well.

“You are a bit of a kid in a candy shop because you have all of the resources and all of the equipment, all of the time and all of the people to create whatever you want.

“It’s an exciting feeling because there are no excuses now. I can try to give my best work and see how it comes out.”

Mr Day started his career as a teenager, lighting shows for the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Bermuda and the In Motion School of Dance.

In 2020, he brought his talents to the West End for a concert production of the smash hit Les Misérables.

“It was an incredible experience,” Mr Day said. “It gave me the opportunity to work in the room with really, really brilliant people, but it also set me up to know all sides of the show from a lighting perspective.

“When they were going to remount the musical, it was incredible that they came to me and asked if I could be the associate lighting designer for Les Mis London.

“That got me into the room with the right people, and since then it all snowballed into what it is now, which is amazing.”

Mr Day said Pericles proved to be an amazing first experience with the RSC, and he fell in love with The Swan, the organisation’s theatre in William Shakespeare’s home town of Stratford-upon-Avon.

“The show itself is one where it is multi-locational and it’s really quick,” he said. “The scenes happen very quickly and they start to interweave in the second half.

“It is one of those shows that needed pretty substantial lighting storytelling to shift and take the audience through all these different places, as well as a few shipwrecks and storms, which is always fun.”

Since lighting the show, he ventured to the Royal Theatre Bath where he lit the History Boys 20th anniversary production, which is about to set off on a ten-week tour across Britain.

“What’s exciting about that show is I get to do something and hand it over to someone who is incredible and relighting my design every time,” he said.

Mr Day said his next project will be lighting a production of The King’s Speech for the Watermill Theatre Newbury, West Berkshire, which opens later this month.

From there, he will travel to Chicago to oversee lighting for Pericles before venturing back to Stratford-upon-Avon for The Red Shoes.

“It is a new adaptation by Nancy Harris,” he said. “It’s not like the film, nor is it like the famous dance piece.

“It is based off the book and there are a few dances and a few songs. It will be the Swan’s Christmas show, so it will run until January.

“I am also going to be doing Twelfth Night at the end of the year for the National Youth Theatre.”

Asked what advice he had for young people interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts, he urged them to get involved with local organisations.

“What is really great about Bermuda is the tight-knit community that we have,” he said. “The level of trust that we give each other is incredible.

“I always look back to the fact I was 14 or 15 when I was given the keys to lighting a show for BMDS and no one asked any questions as if that was normal thing.

“It is not a normal thing. Reach out and you will be able to find someone who will be there to hold your hand through it and someone will happily help you.”