French version
The Tragedy of Carmen — Peter Brook
Peter Brook strips Bizet’s Carmen down to its essentials: desire, freedom, jealousy and death. Between Carmen and Don José, desire turns into confrontation, then obsession, leading inexorably to tragedy.
First performed in 1981, The Tragedy of Carmen transforms Bizet’s opera into a direct, physical and almost savage experience. The voices are exposed, the bodies draw close, and the music strikes with raw intensity. Carmen is no longer an icon: she is a woman who chooses her own destiny, whatever the cost. Her freedom becomes a weapon.
A short, incandescent, brutal and profoundly contemporary opera. Carmen does not want to be saved. She wants to be free.
