No, It’s All Wrong! Director’s Theatre in Opera: Fidelity to the Work, Fidelity to the Audience

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the emergence and development of the phenomenon of interpretive theatre direction in opera as an art form. The author investigates the historical roots of director’s theater in relation to opera, the inevitable interaction of theatre and society, and the audience’s experience in relation to comfort and discomfort. Various aspects of the relevance of interpretive opera direction are presented to the reader. Discussions of the ways in which direction and the theater and music industries have developed show the problems of opera as a theatrical form. The article analyzes the cultural differences in the existence of director’s theater based on the demands of the state, society, and existing theatrical traditions. It offers an overview of the fundamental trends and a gallery of the most important personalities in the history of director’s theater. In the final part of the article, the author provides a forecast for the future.