Opera and modern stage practice : an analysis of the contexts and performance process of Robert Wilson's Madama Butterfly

Abstract

The thesis focuses on the vision of the modern stage practice of director Robert Wilson and the performance process of his mise-en-scene of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part, entitled "Wilson in Context", establishes the vital elements in opera such as the socio-political and cultural issues of the plot, she projected philosophies of the characters, and the setting portrayed by the music and the text. Particular reference is made to the way these elements are assimilated within Puccinian works and their adaptability to the concepts of Wilson who, since the late 80s, specialised in Opera Theatres Part Two, entitled "Wilson in Performance", examines Wilsonian theatre in depth taking into consideration the director's installation of the "layering system". This is an innovative model in which the avant-garde director puts all the elements of his staging, such as lighting, movement, architecture of space, timing, and design, into distinct tracks. In this way, Wilson renders all the staging layers fully autonomous and at the same time unified in a central concept. This is sustained by a full analysis of Wilson's performance process of his Butterfly production which premiered at the Opera National de Paris in 1993.