MEDIATHEK

This surrealist opera concerns a troupe of actors in the time of the Spanish Civil War. What they're playing and what is happening to them in the real world, are confused: role-play and questions of gender are examined within the nature of theatre and its relevance to life outside.
 
The script for OPERA WITH A TITLE has been extracted and freely arranged from two plays by Lorca, El publico and Comedia sin título; they are considered ‘impossible’ plays, an experimental theatre of the imagination and of the sub-conscious, and both are incomplete. In several ways, the two plays are connected and constitute a search for a new form of theatrical expression; like many works of the period, they also call for a new morality of personal freedom. Both examine the nature of illusion and reality, confusing actors inside and outside their roles with audience members inside and outside the ‘play’. This androgyny is mirrored in the relationships between some of the characters, with The Audience in particular containing episodes of homoeroticism. Both works also feature the character of Director/Author/Playwright/Impresario revealing the pre-occupations of Lorca himself who directed a national touring company in the years of the Socialist government.

Libretto: Federico Garcia Lorca