Charlap Hyman & Herrero designed the sets for The Coronation of Poppea, Claudio Monteverdi’s last opera directed and choreographed by Zack Winokur at the Cincinnati Opera. Set in ancient Rome, where the opera’s namesake character maneuvers to be crowned empress, The Coronation of Poppea weaves a web of interpersonal dramas, power struggles, and affairs over three acts. CHH designed modular elements that helped situate the scene in historical context and were frequently rearranged, reflecting the labyrinthine plot of relationships in flux. The set also featured a fog lit as if by a distant fire, understood to be the coming Great Fire of Rome that looms over the opera.