30.03.2012
Scottish Opera is bringing a mini version of Tosca to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 17 May at 12.30pm.
Verdi’s famous opera of love, betrayal and death has been rewritten to just 20 minutes, using illustrations to present a ‘street theatre’ style performance.
The illustrations are brought to life by a narrator and the music is provided by a Scottish Opera singer, accompanied by cello and harp, who will give a flavour of some of the opera’s most famous musical pieces.
Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer, Tricia Marwick MSP said:
“The Scottish Parliament has long been a supporter of Scottish art and culture, and I am looking forward to welcoming this unique version of Tosca to Holyrood. Scotland is proud of its acclaimed opera company and I congratulate them on this novel approach to introducing a new audience to opera.
“I am delighted that the Parliament will become an opera venue, if only for a short time, and I am sure that their performance will enhance the experience of all those visiting Holyrood that day.”
The ‘A Little Bit of … Tosca’ performance will take place in the Parliament’s Main Hall on Thursday 17 May at 12.30pm. The Main Hall will be open to visitors as normal and the performance is free.
Background
Scottish Opera’s A Little Bit of… shows take opera out of the theatre into unexpected places, with the full-scale show cleverly re-written into a lively 20-minute version.
A Little Bit of Tosca is based on Anthony Besch’s celebrated production of this powerful drama. Floria Tosca is the talk of Rome, a famed opera diva with many dazzled admirers. But she only has eyes for one man, Mario Cavaradossi. As his behavior becomes suspicious, she fears he has another woman. But the truth is far more dangerous.
Based on the Japanese form of theatre ‘Kamishibai’ (literally meaning paper-drama), the production uses a metre-wide black theatre box holding ten to twelve illustrations to tell the story.