Tonight, I go to see Figaro at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. This season's production of Figaro is brought to Berkeley Rep via Theatre de la Jeune Lune. While I have seen theatrical productions of neither Le Barbier de Seville or Le Mariage de Figaro, I look forward to seeing this adaptation of the third play (La Mere Coupable) in the trilogy by Beaumarchais. From reading the synopsis, I can tell it will be an intricate tale filled with intrigue. Even more exciting is the fact
that we will be seeing the narratives of Figaro through the sounds of Mozart's opera -- and anything musical will lull me fast asleep, b/c as you know, any good musical will put me to sleep!
steven epp and dominique serrand on figaro
paris, 1792. or by the calendar of the revolution—
year one
The heady days of liberty have deteriorated into chaos. The rascals of the regime flee Paris in droves. Louis XVI and his Queen make a run for the border. Violence and terror reign.
But…on the Avenue de la Republique, across the boulevard from the ruins of the Bastille…here, in the refuge of this mansion…one lone family remains…
We call this one simply “Figaro,” for it is through Figaro that we come to brush shoulders with the explosive events surrounding the French Revolution. Over the course of his life in service to Count Almaviva and through his tumultuous marriage to Susanna, Figaro witnesses the world cracking open; society is upended and the human story irrevocably changed. We’ve chosen a vantage point late in Figaro’s life, after so much turbulent water has flowed under the bridge—from this precipice Figaro looks back to try to comprehend how we come to be of this world, how the world we inherit makes us who we are and how anyone, against all odds, can change the outcome of that world.
Tonight, we are facing love triangles, revolutions, history rewritten, social class struggles, and music -- throughout it all, music.
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