Sets and Costumes as Storytelling

Art and Design Level: 8-14 years old

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CONTENTS

Music 3 Characters 4 Synopsis 5 Insights 6 Teaching Activities 8 Character Profile Sheet 11

A study of two scenes from ’s 1786 opera

This unit of work looks at two scenes from the opera to examine how Art and Design in theatre are used for storytelling. The examples used show in particular the differences between upper- and lower-class lifestyles at the time that the opera is set. Student activities follow using skills in observations, drawing, designing, mathematics, descriptive words, creative problem-solving, public speaking and teamwork.

This unit uses videos available for free on OperaVision. Links to the individual videos can be found below. This unit was written by Kim Waldock in association with OperaVision. OperaVision is supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme.

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Music

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO)

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto by , based on Pierre Beaumarchais’s play La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro. Classical-period comic opera in four acts first performed in in 1786.

The Marriage of Figaro https://operavision.eu/en/library/performances/flashback/marriage- figaro-royal-college-music

Trailer: Sir Thomas Allen introduces the opera https://youtu.be/w_-dHqf51cs

Excerpt 1: Figaro’s room in Act I, scene i, ‘Cinque, dieci, venti… Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama… ’ https://youtu.be/_L-VhDStMkQ

Excerpt 2: The Countess’s bedchamber in Act II, scene ii, ‘Susanna, or via, sortite’ https://youtu.be/JA8NTSwf_b0

Note: The trailer and excerpts from this production by the Royal College of Music, London, will remain available until at least the end of 2020 but the full performance, which was shown on OperaVision in early 2019, has now expired.

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Characters

FIGARO The servant (valet) of Count Almavira, he is about to marry his sweetheart Susanna and is excited about his future life with her. He is clever and can realise when his master is plotting to take advantage of him.

SUSANNA

The aid of Countess Almaviva, she is engaged to Figaro. She is bright and loyal, and wants to out her mistress to win back the Count’s affection.

COUNT ALMAVIVA

A grand man and the master of the house, he is married to the Countess but likes to flirt with other women. He is particularly attracted to Figaro’s fiancé, Susanna, and tries to seduce her. He neglects his wife but is jealous when she becomes friendly with her page.

COUNTESS ALMAVIVA

The wife of the Count, she is unhappy that he seems to no longer love her. To avoid becoming too lonely, she makes friends with the servants.

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Synopsis

EXCERPT 1 – FIGARO’S ROOM https://youtu.be/_L-VhDStMkQ

Act I, scene i: Susanna and Figaro are making plans for their wedding day. She is trying on her wedding clothes and Figaro is measuring his room for his new wedding bed. (Duet: ‘Cinque, dieci, venti’ – ‘Five, ten, twenty’). They are happy and excited, but Susanna is also concerned that their room is too close to the room of their master, Count Almaviva. (Duettino: ‘Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama’ – ‘If the Countess should call you during the night’). Figaro is not too worried, however, as he believes he is smarter than the Count and feels prepared to deal with any of his dirty tricks. (Cavatina: ‘Se vuol ballare’ – ‘If you want to dance’).

EXCERPT 2 – THE COUNTESS’S BEDCHAMBER https://youtu.be/JA8NTSwf_b0

Act I, scene i: Countess Almaviva has been talking with the household page, Cherubino, in her bedroom. When the Countess hears her husband knocking on the door, she hides the boy in her wardrobe. The Count bursts into the room and accuses his wife of hiding a lover from him inside the wardrobe. The Countess tells him that it’s only Susanna in there trying on her wedding clothes. The maid, meanwhile looks on from the doorway and from behind a screen.

Note: A synopsis of the full opera can be found at https://operavision.eu/en/library/performances/flashback/marriage- figaro-royal-college-music#synopsis

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Insights

Sir Thomas Allen, famous baritone and director of this production of The Marriage of Figaro, marvels at the richness of the Mozart’s opera.

Amidst the luxuries of ’s Pavlovsk Palace, a beautiful French clock sits atop a marble mantelpiece. The device is the work of inventor Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, and is testament sufficient to a man’s worth and a life well spent. But Beaumarchais was also a playwright, and the man who gave the world… Figaro.

Figaro brilliantly illustrates the depth of life. As the play unfolds, layer after layer is stripped away to reveal the multi-faceted state of a disintegrating society.

Grateful as we undoubtedly are for such a work, this lucky world was further treated when, almost 250 years ago, Beaumarchais’ stage comedy was immortalised in a masterpiece of musical creation. The Marriage of Figaro is the product of a miraculous collaboration between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte, one a precocious composer, the other an adventurer in literature.

The opera premiered in Vienna on 1st May 1786. Imagine the atmosphere of the theatre of the day: candles and lamps, a smoky space and then - through the haze - the first scurrying notes of that brilliant overture.

What followed in both play and opera was a story for which the word ‘zeitgeist’ might well have been invented. Lorenzo Da Ponte had taken Beaumarchais’ lead and tapped into the grumbling discontent that was then just emerging, but which would lead inexorably to revolution and chaos.

All that, and comedy too.

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Figaro points out the inequalities of its society in a way that is as relevant now as it was then. It deals with the big issues whilst at the same time allowing us to be witness to the finest details of human relations.

There are other details, left unwritten and unsaid, which we must tease out for ourselves in the white, blank spaces between lines. They are there, just as they are in all the greatest works… seek and ye shall find.

Finally, Figaro shows us that love does conquer, though more successfully for some than for others.

I return regularly to renew my acquaintance with Figaro, only to realise with each visit, that I’m learning the work afresh.

Did you know?

• Beaumarchais’ play was considered dangerous for social order when it was first performed because it told a story of the lower classes outwitting the upper classes. • Mozart wrote the entire 3-hour opera in just six weeks. • The character of the page boy Cherubino, is a ‘trouser role’, usually played by a woman. • The Marriage of Figaro is one of the top 10 most performed operas in the world.

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Teaching Activities

Watch Sir Thomas Allen’s brief introduction to The Marriage of Figaro and this production at the Royal College of Music, London, which he directed.

Trailer: Sir Thomas Allen introduces the opera https://youtu.be/w_-dHqf51cs

Watch both excerpts, making sure the students are aware of the characters and locations to expect. Use the Information in the characters and scene synopses above.

Excerpt 1: Act I, scene i ‘Cinque, dieci, venti… Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama… Se vuol ballare’ https://youtu.be/_L-VhDStMkQ

Excerpt 2: Act II, scene ii ‘Susanna, or via, sortite’ https://youtu.be/JA8NTSwf_b0

After each excerpt, discuss which character was which, where the action was set, and what clues the students used to come to their conclusions.

HAND OUT THE CHARACTER PROFILE SHEET

The different characters show their respective social statuses through their music: the Count is grand and stands proudly; Figaro is much less formal or proper, and his music is more carefree.

Watch the excerpts again and ask the students to make some comments on the character profile sheet about the way each of the characters sings their part. The point should emerge that the music written for each character helps to establish their statuses and roles within the opera.

Optional bonus video: Sir John Eliot Gardiner on the musical highlights of The Marriage of Figaro https://youtu.be/AGbaUooR2SY

Once the setting is established, watch both excerpts again and ask the class to complete the sheet. Start by making specific observations and the students will start to find many examples, such as:

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• The size of the room • The furniture in the room • The colours and fabrics in the room • The costume style of each character • The accessories (ornaments, household items, jewellery, wigs, etc.) Opera is about storytelling and every part of an opera production contributes to this. No one has to say that Figaro and Susanna come from the lower class – we know it because of their costumes, their living environment and their jobs. Similarly, the upper-class status of the Count is told through the clothes he wears and the rooms he lives in.

CREATIVE CHALLENGE

Imagine that your local theatre is putting on a play that tells the story of an upper-class and lower-class character set three hundred years ago.

Note to teacher: You could use the Figaro story, or a scene from another opera, play or novel relevant to your curriculum; or use this as an opportunity to research dress and living habits in your country in the 1700s and broaden the co-curricular reach of the task.

The theatre has asked your students to design the set and costumes for the play. They should use the information discovered in The Marriage of Figaro to help plan their designs.

Divide the class into groups to work on specific parts of the activity. Once completed, the group will talk through their ideas to the rest of the class.

SET

The students should consider the type of room, the things that would be in the room and how the room might be decorated. They should research examples from the time period in question. Once they have decided on their scene and they props they would put into their design, encourage the groups to create a ‘to scale’ plan on graph paper.

They will need to measure a space and measure the length of the items they wish to place in the space. You could allocate a particular space,

9 marked out with tape in the school for them to use for measuring the floor plan and help start to visualise what their set may look like. Remind them that the set needs to face an audience, and allow enough space for the action in the room to take place.

Optional bonus video: Amy Lane on the process of designing a set at the Royal Opera House, London https://youtu.be/GUyzdZrQ-vM

Once the sketches are agreed upon, students may decide to build a model of their set as a homework project or extension activity.

COSTUMES

The students should consider the age and social status of the characters and the time and place in which they lived. As a group, brainstorm ways in which the costumes could convey this information to an audience. They should research examples from the time period in question.

Remind the students that they should consider the types of material used in clothing of the time, the length and style of the clothes, and what sorts of accessories they carried – hats, bags, jewellery, walking sticks, fans, etc. How did they do their hair? As the group gathers information, they should brainstorm ideas onto a large sheet of paper for later reference.

Optional bonus video: Designers on the process of designing and making costumes at Scottish Opera, Glasgow https://youtu.be/9ORvcE2F0Ws

The students should then decide upon the costumes of the two characters and sketch and colour them for presentation to the rest of the class.

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Character Profile Sheet

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

Figaro Susanna Count Almaviva Countess Almaviva Social status: Social status: Social status: Social status: Servant Servant Wealthy upper class Wealthy upper class Describe his singing Describe her singing Describe his singing Describe her singing style and music: style and music: style and music: style and music:

Describe his costume: Describe her Describe his costume: Describe her costume: costume:

Describe Figaro’s room: Describe the countess’s bedchamber:

What other clues are there that reveal the What other clues are there that reveal the social status of Figaro and Susanna? social status of the Count and Countess?

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