{"id":421,"date":"2022-11-12T17:23:27","date_gmt":"2022-11-12T17:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/26\/?p=421"},"modified":"2022-12-27T09:54:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T09:54:30","slug":"ariane-and-bluebeard-west-edge-operas-puzzle-in-a-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/26\/ariane-and-bluebeard-west-edge-operas-puzzle-in-a-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Ariane and Bluebeard<\/em>: West Edge Opera’s Puzzle in a Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lissa Tyler Renaud<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ariane and Bluebeard<\/em>, by Maurice Maeterlinck; his libretto adapted for music with Paul Dukas. Stage director: Alison Pogorelc. Presenter: West Edge Opera for their West Edge Festival 2022. General director: Mark Streshinsky. Music director\/conductor: Jonathan Khuner. Ren\u00e9e Rapier as Ariane, Sara Couden as Nurse, Philip Skinner as Bluebeard. Scenic designer: Liliana Duque Pi\u00f1eiro. Costume coordinator: Christine Cook. Lighting designer: Pamila Gray. Projections designer: Jeremy Knight. Wig and Makeup designer: Roxie Johnson. Premiere: 24 July 2022. Venue: The Scottish Rite Center, Oakland, California, U.S.A.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Full stage with memorable design elements: Ariane, Bluebeard, Nurse; captive brides inside one configuration of the primary set piece. Photo: Cory Weaver\/West Edge Opera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This production of the 1906\/7 Ariane and Bluebeard<\/em> bypassed every reasonable expectation of what it might be and achieved a stage event every bit as weird as Maurice Maeterlinck (Belgian, 1862\u20131949) would have hoped. From the long years of deconstructed and postdramatic performances, we are of course used to seeing dramas lacking drama, characters, plots or meaning beyond provocation. This was not that. There was a story, but it unfolded like a stutter and then made a U-turn; it took place somewhere, but where? Symbolist or no, were we allowed to expect that the title character would play a major role, or that the characters would coexist?

No, all no. There was a storyline that focused on a group of young women who went to great lengths to escape a locked chamber and who, without explanation, decided: well, never mind. Maeterlinck himself subtitled the piece “The Useless Delivery”\u2014underlining that attempts to save the imprisoned young women wouldn’t be lending a satisfying climax to a narrative\u2014and adopted his own well-never-mind stance about it. He wrote: \u201cone would mistake my intentions if one hoped to find in them any additional moral or philosophical designs.\u201d Indeed, this slippery show was like a puzzle that wasn’t complete until none of the puzzle pieces fit together.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
The fearless Ariane (Ren\u00e9e Rapier) forcing the wicked Bluebeard (Philip Skinner) to look at himself in the mirror. Photo: Cory Weaver\/West Edge Opera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In contrast, Maeterlinck’s collaborator, Paul Dukas (famously the composer of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice<\/em>) saw the piece as a clear story about a heroine, Ariane, who arrives to deliver not only the wicked Bluebeard\u2019s captive brides but also Bluebeard himself. Adding still another layer, in her fine program notes director Alison Pogorelc traces her growing interest in applying Carl Jung’s theories of archetypal symbols to the piece, whereby Ariane is “enlightenment personified,” delivering Bluebeard from his own interior obstacles to “self-actualization.”<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
The captive brides refuse Ariane’s invitation to leave prison, staying to nurse Bluebeard, who imprisoned them. Alphabetically: Al\u00e9xa Anderson, Silvie Jensen, Candace Johnson, Taylor See and Sharon Shao. Photo: Cory Weaver\/West Edge Opera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While this thread in the opera can certainly be brought to the fore, Ariane certainly has her work cut out for her: Bluebeard is a violent, kidnapping sociopath. The young women, too, are hard for Ariane to rescue\u2014they are easily distracted, by Bluebeard’s plentiful stashes of jewels, from gaining their freedom, and by hand mirrors in which to admire themselves. Actually, a piece that so embraces a male “oppressor,” and that features a group of women “survivors of abuse” so intent on not being freed from him\u2014in fact, on staying to tend his “wounds”\u2014might be seen as a challenging choice for a show in today’s social climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n