Building a spectacular show for Ed Sheeran

The first thing we put together for Ed fit into the back of a truck; we started literally with next to nothing and built up from there.” So says produc-tion and lighting designer Mark Cunniffe, who has been working with Ed Sheeran and his production manager/front-of-house sound engineer, Chris Marsh, since 2010. Together, they make up the creative team of the current Divide Tour. Sheeran has been touring consistently since then, although he did spend 2016 in the studio. “The shows have been getting bigger and bigger as his show progressed,” Cunniffe adds.

Sheeran leaves the looks of his shows up to Cunniffe. “The first design was a bit more theatrical and parochial,” the designer says. “I thought it was a natural step for Ed to take, but he wanted something more dynamic. I went away for about six weeks and came up with a different design. When Chris looked at it, I could see the blood drain from his face. When you give someone the challenge of creating something more dynamic, then, really, that’s a bit of a blank canvas.” Many of Cunniffe’s initial concerns were practical. “I wanted a production that could go from arenas to stadi-ums,” he says. “We currently have a very big arena show…

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