LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES
opera by Sergei Prokofjew
WORLD PREMIERE Mai 2024
Conductor Sasha Yankevych
Director Frank Hilbrich
Stage Sebastian Hannak
Costumes Gabriele Rupprecht
Stage Sebastian Hannak
Costumes Gabriele Rupprecht
Lightdesign Christian Kemmetmüller
Dramaturgy Frederike Krüger
Prokofjew injected a dose of Surrealism into the original commedia dell'arte play.
Hel lets four groups of impatient theatre fans argue over the kind of show they want to see – tragedy, comedy, romance, or farce. A fifth group announces the performance of “The Love for Three Oranges.” What happens next is a spectacularly funny and witty journey of a prince in love- for Oranges!
For this modern classic fairy tale i built a wall into the proscenium that shuts off the magical black box the theatre is. As the audience comes in, so do the singers and other groups, and find their theatre closed. And what do you do when the theater is closed? you open it! Everyone helps to tear down the wall - and embarks on an adventurous journey:
The king's only son is suffering from hypochondriac depression, laughs when someone eventually hurts himself, marries a princess who has emerged from an orange, three of which the prince has stolen from the cook. The princess almost dies of thirst, becomes a rat and fortunately transforms back. Oh yes, two magicians also play a role. And the groups of audience who wish for a different play -Least Truffaldino, the humorist troublemaker. I chose to create a vividly coloured space, that plays with the element of the oversized Bricks that closed off the proscemium. Built in a perspective, the walls get smaller and smaller, and through simple scenechanges the space is altering throughout the evening. Of course three oranges reveal the thirtsy princesses- in huge, orange inflatables. I made use of nearly every theatrical trick there is- from see through walls, trap and trick doors, flying singers and much more....not to forget 6 cubicmeters of oversized spaghetti, each 9 meters long! 
