Join Opera on Location in the Sheffield University Drama Studio at the end of this coming week (25th-27th August) for a unique combination of two iconic operas: Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.
Opera on Location is a Sheffield-based company formed in 2013, ‘committed to bringing innovatively staged, high quality, affordable opera to Sheffield and South Yorkshire’. This is the company’s first indoor performance since the pandemic, and, as with all their productions, they are aiming to make it accessible to a large audience by performing it in English, and with a ‘newly commissioned libretto’. What’s more, the opera’s action is transported to World War II, which of course serves to emphasise its tragic aspects and heightened emotion.
Cavalleria and Pagliacci are often performed together, but Opera on Location, led by director Aidan Edwards, has made the ground-breaking decision to not just stage the operas side by side, but to really delve into their similarities by merging the two worlds.
Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci is originally an Italian opera comprising a prologue and two acts, which premiered in 1892. It tells the story of Canio, who is the leader of his commedia dell’arte theatre company, which was an early type of Italian theatre characterised predominantly by masked figures and improvisation. The humourous technique of pantomime is also synonymous with the genre, and was mostly seen in the character now known as the Harlequin, a clown-like figure which Leoncavallo’s Canio somewhat resembles. However, in true dramatic opera style, Canio murders his adulterous wife Nedda and her lover on stage mid-performance, blurring the lines between horror and comedy in a beautifully grotesque fashion.
Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (premiered in 1890) is often hailed as a classic of the verismo tradition, which sought never-before-seen realism in opera, tackling subjects previously considered taboo, such as the struggles of the poor. The plot follows Turiddu, who, upon returning from military service, is distraught to find that his fiancée Lola has married another man. Turiddu hatches a plot to seduce Santuzza to make Lola jealous. This seems to be working in his favour, until Santuzza, feeling used, tells Lola’s husband Alfio about her infidelity to him. Turiddu and Alfio duel, and… watch the opera to find out what happens next!
Opera on Location combines these two works in a brand-new interpretation, which sees Canio’s theatre troupe from Pagliacci rehearsing for their production of Cavalleria rusticana. Canio (Gareth Lloyd) and Nedda (Fiona Hymns) star as Cavalleria’s Turiddu and Santuzza, a poignant casting choice that is sure to bring a whole host of new emotions to both operas. Opera on Location is using the tried and tested play-within-a-play technique (think Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream), but in an extremely unique way. They are showing us that opera is not something outdated and set in stone, but instead that it is timeless, ever-mutable, and enjoyable for all.
Be sure not to miss out on this amazing theatrical offering! Tickets are currently available on their website: https://www.operaonlocation.co.uk/verismo
