Remember when we wrote here about David Lynch directing Dmitri Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth? Well it seems that Richard Jones has already beaten him to the task. Back tonight from Teatro alla Scala's la prima, too tired to go for drinks, I'm falling into bed after this quick recap:
Yes, this is the same staging seen at the Royal Opera House’s 2006 production with Pappano on the podium, and I put forth exactly the same praises and detractions as I had previously read. I found that the direction clashed overtly with the musical cues of Shostakovich's heartbreakingly beautiful and equally jarring composition. There were just too many moments when the visual images set forth by Jones just didn't match at all with Shostakovich’s intricate score. But independently, they both kicked a$$ in their own way.
Yes, we had our pig-masked rapist spraying a stream of white foam directly into the unmentionables between Aksinya's splayed legs, we had our Katerina/Sergey humping-against-the-wall scene, we had our headless body of Zinovy wrapped in plastic being dragged-off the stage. Everything that was promised we served. The end result was a riveted, enchanted, slightly horrified audience, exhausted from the spectacle of 3.5 hours of pathos and visceral imagery, monsters and tacky wallpaper, set in the twisted nightmare of a dark David Lynchian canvas.
This was Inland Empire version 2.0, from the scenery to the overall tone, and I felt again I was stuck inside that freaking horrible rabbit-head puppet apartment! omg whatever u do DONT LOOK BELOW!!!!vvvvvvvvv omg I’m going to bed but I just know I’m going to have nightmares. ok now I'm unsure of what to write...everything's a little weird in here. even pagliaccio is scared <:"[
