The opera «Kassandra» has its world premiere at the Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires

The opera «Kassandra» has its world premiere at the Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón

Kassandra, composed by Pablo Ortiz with a libretto by Sergio Blanco, is a co-production between the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera and the Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires. The stage direction is by Alexandros Efklidis and Diana Theocharidis, and the musical direction is by Eduviges Picone. The Greek prophetess will be portrayed by soprano María Castillo de Lima.

 

On Thursday, 22 August at 21:00, the Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón, directed by Diana Theocharidis, will premiere the opera Kassandra in co-production with the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera.

 

The upcoming performances will be on Friday 23 (which will include a meet-and-greet between the audience and the artists), Friday 30, and Saturday 31 August at 20:00, and on Sundays 25 August and 1 September at 17:00.

 

This production contains sensitive scenes and language not suitable for all audiences. Suggested age: 18 and over.

 

Foto: Lucía Rivero.

 

This original production features the musical composition by Pablo Ortiz commissioned by the Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera and the Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón, with a libretto by Sergio Blanco, stage direction by Alexandros Efklidis and Diana Theocharidis, musical direction by Eduviges Picone, set and lighting design by Gonzalo Córdova, set construction by Diego Cirulli, and costumes by Luciana Gutman. The Greek prophetess will be portrayed by soprano María Castillo de Lima.

 

Tickets are now on sale at www.teatrocolon.org.ar and at the Teatro Colón box office, Tucumán 1171, Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 20:00 and Sundays from 09:00 to 17:00.

 

Kassandra, the tragic prophetess of Greek mythology, has the gift of seeing the future. However, like all soothsayers in the ancient world, she also sees the past. The seer perceives the present and the absent on the same realm. Kassandra, who received the gift of prophecy, was cursed by the god Apollo so that no one would believe her words.

 

In this version of Kassandra by Sergio Blanco, the character not only embodies the tragic and foreign condition but also represents a migrant and marginalised status from a social and gender perspective.

 

This new Kassandra sings and speaks in the broken English of someone who barely knows the language and is driven by the desire to be understood. Kassandra is a character that bridges different times and, in this opera, connects myth with the present, as well as the aesthetic of Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco with that of composer Pablo Ortiz. Both work within this continuous exchange between the past, present, and future. Furthermore, in the staging by Alexandros Efklidis and Diana Theocharidis, a single space contains these distant universes.