This is to be a new version of Mozart’s opera, faithful to the music but modernising the text and changing the scenario so that we can more readily respond to the characters and situations. The writer/director arrived with a well developed first draft, so this workshop was an opportunity to hear the text read and work a little on some of the scenes that have been most problematic, making some interesting discoveries along the way.
The Cider With Rosie actors joined us. As actors they have a very different take on the text, and an ability to hone in on one character that sometimes eludes me as a director, whereas I can easily see the arc of a narrative or a gap in a scene. It was such a delight to hear them reading very different roles from the ones I’ve grown used to over rehearsals and the run.
Now the writer/director will go away and rework his adaptation, taking into account some of the discoveries made during the workshop, prior to a second workshop later this year, which will focus on the music with singers and the musical director.
This Don Giovanni is to be set at the end of the nineteenth century, with the Don making a living as a stage illusionist and hypnotist. So there are magic tricks and illusions galore, as well as murder, vengeance, love and lust.
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