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Regietheater

(German for director's theater) is a term that refers to the modern (mainly post- World War II) practice of allowing a director freedom in devising the way a given opera or play is staged so that the creator's original, specific intentions or stage directions (where supplied) can be changed, together with major elements of geographical location, chronological situation, casting and plot. Typically such changes may be made to point a particular political point or modern parallels which may be remote from traditional interpretations.

Examples found in productions may include some or all of the following:

  • The story is relocated from the original location to a more modern period (including setting in a totalitarian regime)

Neil Fisher, The Times (London), 12 May 2006 (Subscription required): "Take his Tosca for Opera North, where every single act took place in a dingy church basement and Scarpia was a Berlusconi stooge in a dirty mac. Or the colourful Spanish dances of de Falla's La vida breve, hauntingly reimagined by Alden for the same company as a ritual suicide in a sweatshop. Or his now classic adaptation of Turandot for Welsh National Opera and English National Opera, which put the murderous Chinese princess in killer heels and a Maggie Thatcher power suit.

  • Modifications to the story from the original script
  • Interpretative elements stressing the role of race/gender/class-based oppression are emphasised. Bayreuth Festival page in regard to the 1976 Ring Cycle: In his 1976 staging of the Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival, Patrice Chéreau used an updated 19th century setting that followed the interpretation of George Bernard Shaw who saw the Ring as a social commentary on the exploitation of the working class by wealthy 19th century capitalists.
  • Abstraction in the set design
  • An emphasis on sexuality
  • Costumes frequently mix eras and locales. Examples include the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's 2010 production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and its 2011 Don Giovanni which portray some characters in 18th century attire and others in mid-20th century clothing.