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When Romeo and Juliet meet, it is love at first sight. But their rival families do everything they can to keep the two apart. A battle that ultimately leads to the death of the lovers. Charles Gounod based his opera Roméo et Juliette on Shakespeare’s popular play. The universal love story is interpreted in a contemporary way by director Julien Chavaz.
For Chavaz, this opera is about the constant tension between public and private. “In directing, we play with these different perspectives. One moment you are observing everything from the two families fighting each other in public. To then switch to the intimate perspective of Romeo and Juliet, who meet in secret.’ The decor is also based on this change of perspective. “Like looking out the window one minute overlooking the whole city and the next you’re peeking through a keyhole.”
Chavaz creates for Roméo et Juliette a fantasy world with its own colours, rules and aesthetics, which do not resemble ours. ‘It is an extremely exciting process that starts with a sketchbook in which I create a new world with my regular set and costume designer.’ Chavaz prefers to see the body language of the singers fully connected to the music and text. “What I hear, I want to see reflected in the bodies. That’s the only way to get the energy across to the audience.’
With the successful Swiss director Julien Chavaz and the Austrian conductor Philipp Pointner, Opera Zuid once again opted for a fresh look at a classic story.
