Robert Lepage’s Nightingale
November 30th, 2009 by Ian
I saw the Canadian Opera Company’s premiere of The Nightingale & Other Short Fables a month ago and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It was an evening of whimsical storytelling by director Robert Lepage who pieced together a series of short works by Stravinsky.
I loved the evening.
While clearly the draw was the much talked about conversion of the orchestra pit into an enormous water tank, for me the most intriguing part had the simplest elements. A series of performers created complex hand shadow puppets–the kind you did on the bedroom wall with your reading light when you were a kid. This was one of those rare moments where I sat back in wonder at the sheer inventiveness of what I was watching. The images that were made with hands, arms and a light were funny, and tender–in particular, that of a mother rocking her baby to sleep in a cradle. Truly beautiful. And not something you see often enough at the opera.
I was much impressed with Lepage and the COC’s creative rethinking of the operatic experience.
2 Responses to “Robert Lepage’s Nightingale”
Leave a Reply
Very cool… I saw a production of MacBeth when I was at queens that replaced the entire stage with a pool of water. This is a very interesting trend…
Thanks for posting about the Nightingale! It really was an unforgettable evening. The pool was cool, but sitting in 2nd last row I couldn’t really see it, so the shadow puppets were definitely my favourite part. I had a hard time switching my view from the puppeteers to the projected shadows cauz I didn’t want to miss any of it!