www.livedesignonline.com: This season, Opera Australia broke new ground by presenting a completely “digital” season. No, singers weren’t replaced with holograms, and, no, the audience didn’t listen through headsets. Rather than staging the three-opera season on traditional scenery, with all necessary construction, dismantling, and re-construction of a typical repertory opera season, Opera Australia asked its artists to embrace a digital version of the scenery. Following a move in this direction with last year’s Aida, the company went full speed ahead for its productions in the Sydney Opera House. The season included new productions of Madama Butterfly, Anna Bolena, and the world premiere of Whiteley.
7 comments:
WOW! I just finished writing a comment about how an author at the Washington Post was calling for Opera to die so that it may be reborn and reinvented. But this this is taking a rethink of a traditional art form to an entirely different level. These photos look stunning of the design for this show. And while the idea of having a show that primarily revolves around media has always scarred me in a way I have to say from what I see and can read it looks like they have nailed it right on the head. Taking a classic piece like Madama Butterfly and putting It into this new digital world is such an amazing new idea. Providing these design teams with a blank canvas of limitless possibilities beyond the physical world has led to fantastic images from what I can see. The talk back and forth between the media designer and their team to get this piece to not be dictated but revolve with media and its other elements is truly spectacular.
This is a very interesting new take on the standard opera. When I think of opera, I think of a very old theatrical artform, around for hundreds of years, with period sets, costumes, and themes from the fifteenth through twentieth centuries. This modernization of opera, however, completely goes against everything I think of when it comes to opera. However, at the same time, it piques my interest. I believe this digitalization and modernization of the classic opera has the potential to reignite the public’s interest in this style of theatre, and draw in a whole new crowd of people who may not have experienced opera before. The slideshow of images gave a beautiful taste of the potential of this new digital opera. In addition, with the perpetually improving and advancing of theatre technology, the possibilities for modern opera are endless. I can definitely say I have in interest in experiencing this magical new opera, and perhaps one day I shall seek out a performance.
This is a fantastic realization of how current artists are starting to bring older art forms into the modern world; adapting them for the audiences of today while still keeping the essence of the piece intact. The pictures included in the article show us that the traditional grandiosity of an opera set is not lost in its modernization. The over-the-top scenic elements that many audiences expect from an opera are taken into the 21st century and realized in a 2D format that still manages to capture the magnificence and exaggeration traditional to opera sets. The physical set itself appears to be limited to a few well-placed platforms, which makes the media design all the more impressive that it makes use of such a large stage and fills the whole space with engaging and relevant content that adds to the experience of the opera.
-Bridget Doherty
As technology advances, the world is changing and becoming more digital. I think it is important for companies to evolve as the world around it is, rather than get left behind just because they want to stick to old principles and traditions. However, as far as opera or theatrical scenery becoming one hundred percent digital goes, I do not think that should be the end goal. There is an art to scenery, and whilst some concepts are visually stimulating, we have to remember the over goal of story telling. It is not only about the scenery, it is about the story being told through scenic elements, costumes, lighting, performances, etc.. So if digitizing the scenery does not work conceptually to tell the story, it probably shouldn't be done. On the other hand, if it works, right on. As an audience we want to see new ideas or new ways of telling the story being presented before us. But there are other ways to incorporate the technology and be creative.
- Apriah
Wow! The digital scenery used in this year’s Sydney Opera house season creates a completely different mood than traditional scenery we see in an opera. It gives the show a much more Sci-Fi feel to it. It’s really amazing how they are completely redesigning the way we think of an opera. This might even lead to a resurgence of the popularity of the opera in general. I think it’s incredible how much new technology is changing the way we do theater. For all we know in a few years everything on Broadway could be done using screens and holograms. My only concern with these breakthroughs in theater technology is that scenic artists, set designers, and builders will be no longer needed and thus put out of work by the use of digital scenery. Hopefully we can find a balance between using all digital scenery and not using it at all so that we don’t shut those important artists out.
-Jillian Warner
Opera Australia is truly innovating with this recent production of Madama Butterfly. The push for video and media design in theatre and opera is really stretching the boundaries of what can be done with a limited amount of space. For example, the venue at the Sydney Opera House. in which this show took place, is fairly limited in stage space. Opera Australia actually asked their artists to design with more video and media to expand the scenery of this show. To me, using media in a production is a no-brainer. The designers of this show were able to come up with and test all of their material before the show even made it into the performance venue. In spaces like the Sydney Opera House, where stage space is limited, we need to do more with the latest technology to help push those boundaries. We are starting to see that they are capitalizing on this strategy with this show, but also the announcement that the SOH is converting to LED technology with their lighting systems.
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