Saturday at the opera (and theatre)

This Saturday, at half past eight in the island's municipal sala de cultura (cinema), crowds will be treated to Ser o no ser Otel·lo ('To be or not to be Othello'), a coproduction by the Neorural and Teatre de Vellut companies that has the particularity of blending opera and theatre.

Actors in the show include Jaume Gayà, Pedro Orell, Marga López and Sergio Baos as well as Núria Vizcarro, who assures a dual role of actress and playwright, and Joan Manel Albinyana, whose duties include acting, directing and lighting.

Ser o no ser Otel·lo puts a spin on the timeless Shakespearean tale later readapted for opera houses by Verdi and raises questions about what would have happened if the tempest had claimed Othello's life before he arrived at Cyprus or if the king had doubted the words of Iago. Joan Manel Albinyana reflected: “We are trying to get after variations on Shakespeare's and Verdi's work. To do that, we use humour, the grotesque and even irreverence. We really wanted to pull on the main thematic threads laid out in the original tragedy”.

Nevertheless, Albinyana wanted to shy away from reducing the piece to a mere caricature of the original. For this reason, the crew was sure to keep in place some of the main themes of Shakespeare's original work. Describing what had all the makings of a captivating production, the director reflected: “We look at this idea of destiny. We want to find out: is it immutable, inexorable, or can human decisions change it?” Tomorrow evening in Formentera there will only be one real way to find out.