Opera before 1920

The phrase “mise en scene” roughly translates from French to the “staging”. To explore some
examples of staging, I used the opera provided, narrated by Howard Goodall. Around the 23rd
minute mark of the first video, I noticed that the stage had no elegant background, but instead had
a feeling of a warehouse. The brick background, steel frames, and ladders sprung around created
a sense that the people in the opera probably were middle class. This interests me because Opera
is pertains more to wealthy people.

Through watching this Opera, I’ve realized that a large portion of operas are partially about love and the
struggles that come with it, but also a lot about power. In the opera I watched, a count is trying to get with
the maid - however, the maid is supposed to marry the count’s valet. Possibly because of the count’s
power, the maid agrees, and they plan to “meet” that night - even though the count has a wife and the
maid is engaged.

I think that this sort of risky affair is very entertaining to the audience, as it was to me. Affairs are
always something looked down upon, however the director dramatized it in such a way to be
entertaining and erotic. Especially during this time, where manners and customs were so valued,
the dramatization of an affair acts as a shock value, keeping the audience interested.

I think this piece is important to the chronology of opera because it takes a large step out of
societal norms, and creates a story about something as taboo as sleeping around outside of
marriage. The idea of creating something entertaining in theater out of something taboo in real
life is a change to more conventional, religious music.

The main use of technology is in obvious things like lighting and audio.  The lighting is
strategically placed to focus the audience’s attention on the subject speaking, and to drown out
everything around them. Microphones are used to ensure quality audio, so that the front isn’t
favored over the back. Besides those two uses of technology, the directors have actually tried to
keep the play as simple and as accurate to the first casting as possible.

If I were a 21st century director, I would create a first person-styled game, where you could
interact with different characters. I would make it ahve the same storyline as the opera,
with the count and the maid trying to meet up during the night. You would be able to play as
either the count, maid, count’s wife, or maid’s husband. The aim of the game would be to find
clues that lead you to believe that the significant other is being unloyal. There would be
cutscenes that go along with every clue that incorporate some opera singing to get the real
feeling of the story.