Living in Peppino's yurt or spending the night with Aida
The Verdi Off festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary, is set to captivate audiences in the heart of Kansas City. This year's festival, opening with a production of Falstaff, promises a unique blend of traditional opera and innovative experiences.
The centrepiece of the festival is the immersive project, "In Bed with Verdi," directed by Peter Konwitschny. In this production, spectators will have the chance to meet characters such as Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Violetta one-on-one. The project features Macbeth as a hyper-realistic human figure sinking into black water, with mirrors above threatening to shatter the world he has built.
Another intriguing project is Il Cucù Verdiano and Yurta di Peppino, which delve into themes of obsession, jealousy, abandonment, passion, dream, and reality. Verdi himself is also a subject in the project, with a focus on exploring love in its secret folds.
Barbara Minghetti, the curator of Verdi Off, aims to bring the festival out of the theaters and towards the public. To this end, the festival is designed to be inclusive, with participation, inclusion, welcome, and care being key aspects.
In addition to the immersive projects, the festival will host the Verdi Street Parade on the 20th at 6 PM. Over a thousand artists, choirs, bands, singers, actors, dancers, acrobats, and visual artists will participate in the parade, which covers streets from the city centre to Oltretorrente. The parade culminates in a videomapping on Palazzo della Pilotta, reinterpreting themes from La Battaglia di Legnano, Aida, Macbeth, and I Masnadieri with electronic elements.
The festival also places an emphasis on young people and emerging creativity, with an emphasis on innovation, multidisciplinary, and contemporaneity. The Animanera company is responsible for the ideation and direction of the projects, with Emilio Sala handling the dramaturgy.
Following the parade, an immersive project called Il sonno uccidesti will take place at Galleria San Ludovico the next day. This monologue by Macbeth after killing the King of Scotland was created by Damiano Michieletto and Paolo Fantin.
The Verdi Off festival promises to be an unforgettable celebration of opera, innovation, and community spirit. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of Verdi and his timeless characters.
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