![]() ![]() The bare stage also had significant acoustic effects, giving the singers nothing to aid their projection – the chorus was often drowned out by the orchestra from my seat in the middle of the Platea and the principals had to rely on being at the very front of the stage to give us maximum audibility. The chorus was marched on and off in a block, with much of their movement consisting of them perambulating in formation around the stage. Far too often, characters resorted to stock operatic gestures – an outstretched hand, the principals parked at the front for the ensembles, and Macbeth spent much of the evening falling to his knees. Yet Plensa’s inexperience as a stage director was also apparent in the personenregie. As Duncan is murdered, Plensa gives us the image of several sets of doors, perhaps suggesting that Macbeth had several options other than killing Duncan, and this was a deliberate choice on his behalf. The stage is bare for much of the evening, just a few props, such as a structure of a man’s head upon which Macbeth and Banco alight to watch the witches (and where Banco is also murdered). Given his origins as an artist, it is perhaps unsurprising that his staging consists of so many memorable stage pictures, based on exploiting three basic colours – black, red, and white. What distinguishes Plensa’s work as a sculptor is his use of alphabetic letters as part of his structures – and this was also the case for his costumes tonight. ![]() He also brings to his staging a life-long love of Shakespeare. Plensa may be new to the role of stage director, but he is no operatic novice. The theatre was absolutely packed tonight with an extremely enthusiastic audience. Getting Plensa to do his first ever stage direction of an opera for the Liceu was a bit of a scoop for the house, and his name was prominently displayed alongside Verdi’s in the marketing for the show. This new staging of Macbeth was confided to the famed Catalan sculptor and operatic set designer, Jaume Plensa. The signs are positive that this great house is regaining its former lustre. Fortunately, things are much improved under the new artistic director, Victor Garcia de Gomar, with this season seeing an innovative staging of Tosca by rising star Rafael Villalobos, and Calixto Bieito’s superb Poppea from Zurich. While of course we have been living through a plague in the intervening years, the main reason for this is that, during the years of the previous artistic directorship, the programming was rather staid. This was, rather unbelievably so given how often I visit the Catalan capital, my first visit to the Gran Teatre del Liceu since 2018. ![]() Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Catalonia. In short, if you are thinking of applying, have an exit strategy, because working here for too long will drive you into the ground.Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu, Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu / Josep Pons. Once you are scheduled it is solely your responsibility to find coverage, which is nearly impossible due to everyone else's terrible schedules as well. There is only one manager in charge of scheduling who refuses to take advanced requests not to be scheduled, and ignores requests to change scheduling even as far as half a year in advance. The main draw of working here is the flexible hours, which is extremely beneficial to anyone working a day job or pursuing a career in the performing arts, but the scheduling is abysmal. Labor laws are completely ignored, the safety of patrons and employees are disregarded in favor of earning the producers more money (which is unnecessary, the show is fantastically successful and the producers are already earning a shocking amount of revenue) and employees can expect to be verbally harassed and abused on a daily basis. However, working in the building is a truly miserable experience. It's innovative, sexy, and exciting, and could very well be the future of theatre. SLEEP NO MORE is an absolutely astounding show.
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