This weekend you have a full list of stories to get to know, either being shown on the big screen or performed live on stage.
On Saturday the Rialto theatre in Limassol will screen a performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’, as performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Anthony Minghella’s breathtaking production has thrilled audiences ever since its premiere in 2006. Kristine Opolais takes on the title role, opposite Roberto Alagna as Pinkerton, the naval officer who breaks Butterfly’s heart.
The story, set in the Japanese port city of Nagasaki at the turn of the last century at a time of expanding American international presence, is well-known. Its circumstances, its plot and its outcome are all things that have sparked discussions on cultural and sexual imperialism, since the opera’s premiere in 1904. These elements, together with Puccini’s score, are what make this opera a timeless and beautiful work of art.
Although the music carries the plot to its tragic end, the singer who must act out that tragedy has the task of conveying emotion that will move the audience to tears. Opolais achieves this, so when Butterfly reclaims her honour in the final act, be prepared to be moved.
Also on Saturday, the Little Worry People Art and Drama Studio welcomes children from two to eight years old to a performance of ‘Hello’.
The hour-long show is about a little boy who is too shy to talk until one day he meets a remarkable little girl and everything starts to change. She is the one who manages to make all his fears of speaking vanish.
Apart from narrating a wonderful story of friendship, ‘Hello’ also tells a story which portrays the various obstacles both boy and girl overcome in order to finally communicate verbally.
The play, which is a combination of physical and puppet theatre, also includes some dialogue in Greek.
If your children prefer shadow theatre, then on Sunday the very famous character of the Greek shadow theatre world Karagiozis will be back on the scene at the Old Vinegar House in Limassol.
In this story – ‘Karagiorzis’ Engagement – he gets employed as a servant at a rich man’s house to welcome guests who come to meet his young and beautiful daughter as she is going to choose to marry one of them. As usual, Karagiozis makes sure that things don’t go according to plan, but he can’t help it, he is just a sucker for comedy.
Now for the adults of us out there, Theatro Ena in Nicosia will be offering us a chance to see what the play ‘Killer Joe’ by American playwright Tracy Letts is all about – but the title pretty much gives it away.
If you have seen the 2011 film version starring Matthew McConaughey then you will know that in a case where a matriarch is killed – and there is insurance money involved – the suspects are always the beneficiaries.
For those of you who have not seen the film, then just know that the plot thickens and the hitman who was hired to do the job doesn’t get off so lightly in the end.
Madame Butterfly
Screening of the opera. April 2. Theatre Rialto, Limassol. 7.55pm. €18/13. With Greek and English subtitles. Tel: 77-777745
Hello
Performance for children. April 2. The Little Worry People Art and Drama Studio, 2 Orfeos Street, Makedonitissa, Engomi, Nicosia. 5pm. €5. In Greek. Tel: 22-590197
Karagiozis’ Engagement
Performance of the traditional comedy shadow theatre. April 3. Old Vinegar House, Limassol. 11.30am. €5. In Greek. Tel: 96-845705
Killer Joe
Performance of the play by Tracy Letts. April 1 until May 29. Theatro Ena, Nicosia. 8.30pm. In Greek. Tel: 22-348203
