It’s the second of our bloggers and social media enthusiast events and this time we are teaming up with Opera North. We are in the full knowledge that for some opera is a fate worse than deaf (see what we did there?) or for many an area where you feel out of your depth, and others a night of pure pleasure. Which ever way you feel, we’d love it if you joined us for a very unique opportunity.
Here’s what Opera North have to say:
“We challenge you to be indifferent by Carmen.
And we are challenging the way we engage with people. So we are going to do what we don’t normally do, which is to invite a group of bloggers to an access-some-areas of Opera North’s new production of Carmen.
Why? – Daniel Kramer, hot young American director has made his name for bold, brave and daring productions in the theatre world and brings his vision to one of the most popular operas – you will know the music – Toreador
It’s not stuffy and incomprehensible and too long….but you’ll need to see for yourself
Opera North wants to de-mystify the artform – see our interview with the conductor we want to hear your opinions and for you to share these with your peers”
The event will include:
- – a chance to meet some of the cast and crew
- – an opportunity for you to ask any questions
- – take photos before and after the production – but not during
- – drinks and nibbles beforehand and during the interval
Spaces are limited so if you blog or tweet or facebook it please do register here to join us at this unique event
I saw the first performance at the Grand Theatre last night. I really enjoyed it; it was a unique interpretation by the director, surreal, comedic…and very raunchy.
I’m sorry – I was also at the first night- this production is absolute tosh – no narrative consistency and the drama totally undercut by abject farce. This was puerile stuff at best!
I saw the production on the first night too and I tend to agree with BOTH the above. As an opera, I thought it was quite well done on the whole: good singing, clever staging, ingenious characterisation; as Bizet’s opera, Carmen, it was a mess. The re-jigging of the time and place made a nonsense of the plot and the characterisations were infantile and counter-intuitive. It wasn’t a lazy production but it was certainly wayward. Best experienced through closed eyelids, perhaps.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y2d7x This is a bit of background to Carmen on the BBC
Thanks, but that piece is a random collection of words relating (sort of) to a TV programme about a manuscript. It’s not really much use to help someone understand what Carmen is all about, if indeed, there are people who don’t already.
Mind you, reading that article is probably more enjoyable than seeing this Opera North production. I was due to go tonight, but got a refund on my tickets. Maybe others won’t be so lucky. It sounds simply awful.
I saw this last night and thought it was the worst professional theatrical production I’ve seen in 40 years. I was embarrassed to see good singers put through such offensive garbage. The first act was a cross between the Boy Scout jamboree and Springtime for Hitler. What sickened me most was the gratuitous hanging of a native American chief. (nothing whatsoever to do with the plot). When occasionally some opera broke out the contrast actually made it worse because we realised what we’d been missing. It can only have been directed by someone with a venomous hatred of the piece. Just some of the nonsensical decisions, which could easily have been put right, were: Wilful mistranslations of the French in the surtitles, including ‘gipsy’ translated as ‘bastard’; policemen/soldiers singing ‘we’re sitting smoking in the square’ when they weren’t smoking; sticking to French despite the American location; the change from toreador to pit-bull cage fighter despite the retention of the ‘toreador’ song; perverse sexual titillation while there was virtually no erotic element at all with the factory girls (where it would have been perfectly acceptable). During an interval it was announced that one of the singers was struggling with a throat infection and ‘hoped it wouldn’t spoil your enjoyment of the production’. No, it didn’t.
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