No one writes about the nature of power better than Shakespeare and to this Verdi brings all-encompassing dramatic energy through his music.
Be prepared for total theatre. This new production by Netia Jones, conducted by Brad Cohen, features Phillip Rhodes and Amanda Echalz in their international role debuts as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
With a stellar cast of kiwi talent including Wade Kernot, Jared Holt, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, Morag Atchison and the New Zealand Opera Chorus. Sung in Italia with English surtitles.
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Leaving behind the Scottishness of the play’s origins, this opera will be a dramatic and theatrical visual experience that explores the issues of power, the current state of the human psyche, and asks questions that still stand true of perceptions around women’s role in society – all while taking on the air of an Italian horror show.
The production is directed by leading international opera, performance, and media director and designer Netia Jones, who says it leans into the psychological and emotional content of the piece as a profound exploration of human nature. “It will be staged in black and white, with cyan and red the only two colours on set. Projection will be used on surfaces, and there is a lot of symbolism – wood and crows, a feeling of mist and darkness. The staging evokes, as the play does, a place of natural and ubiquitous violence.”
New Zealand Opera’s General Director, Thomas de Mallet Burgess, says that the overall look and tone is that of an Italian horror movie, playing with symbolism that is abstract and cinematic, to explore themes of derangement and paranoia and how they relate to our current time. “Opera is uniquely relevant to our time and place – it asks where we are going as a society, what our purpose is, whether we are outward-looking or self-interested.”
The new production features New Zealand-born baritone Phillip Rhodes, Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Kahungunu, and South African soprano Amanda Echalaz in their international role debuts as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, with a stellar cast of Kiwi talent including Wade Kernot, Jared Holt, Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, Morag Atchison and the New Zealand Opera Chorus. This production will be sung in Italian with English surtitles. Children will be cast locally to appear in performances in their city.
Thomas de Mallet Burgess says, “We are thrilled to have attracted the stunning international talent of Phillip Rhodes and Amanda Echalaz to make their debuts in Verdi’s Macbeth, and to have this rich opportunity to offer local performers. Macbeth is the most presented piece by New Zealand Opera, and we are eager to see how audiences respond to this vivid interpretation.”
$2 per hour to a max of $12 on weekends and a $12 flat rate for weekday evenings at The Civic car park. Find out more.