Few operas can boast as many hit songs as Porgy and Bess. Experience Gershwin’s timeless melodies: I Got Plenty o’Nuttin’, It Ain’t Necessarily So and, of course, the smash hit Summertime.
Porgy and Bess is set amongst the African-American community in Catfish Row, a poor and run-down neighbourhood in South Carolina. It is an opera about how people find hope, even when life is at its hardest.
Bess is ostracised by the neighbourhood’s residents because her violent and domineering lover, Crown, has killed a young man. Porgy tries to rescue Bess from Crown’s clutches, and they fall in love. But their happiness is short-lived. The drug dealer Sportin’ Life lures Bess with the promise of a better life, and she goes with him to New York. However, this does not make Porgy give up on Bess, and he sets off to look for her.
Although many regard Porgy and Bess as a musical, George Gershwin himself called the work a ‘folk opera’. With his unique blend of classical music, spirituals, blues and jazz, Gershwin created hits that have taken on a life of their own far beyond the opera stage.
The production is staged with a powerful, fresh and cool vision by the theatre magician Barrie Kosky, who sheds new light on this timeless masterpiece. It is at once raw, moving and inspiring. Barrie Kosky has created some of the Royal Theatre’s greatest audience successes in recent times, including Carmen, The Magic Flute and Saul.
Porgy and Bess is sung in English with Danish and English surtitles.
A co-production with the Komische Oper in Berlin.
Recommended from 7 years old
Creative team
Iscenesættelse
- Barrie Kosky
Scenografi
- Jan Freese
Kostumedesign
- Dede Avite
Lysdesign
- Olaf Freese
Dramaturgi
- Daniel Andrés Eberhard
Koreografi
- Mariana Souza