Via Beatrice World Premiere closes to acclaim
Fugue Theatre’s experimental operetta, Via Beatrice ran from August 14-22 at the Playwrights Theatre Centre on Granville Island.
A lively experimental/modern Vancouver based Operetta that goes back and forth between current happenings and the 1500s. Via Beatrice is an adventure that captures your soul, tears it out and gives it back to you. --- Sue Lewis/Associated Press
... there are moments of tremendous luminosity. ... this is a bold, ambitious work that deserves an audience. The source material is rich, the treatment innovative and the performances extraordinary. --- Jo Ledingham/Vancouver Courier
A woman travels to Italy after the suicide of her daughter. They were supposed to take the trip together. Practically giving up all hope for life itself, the woman stumbles upon a haunted tour of Rome led by a slick Italian tour guide. He has his own demons. Together, they become entwined with the ghost of Beatrice Cenci in a roller-coaster ride of sensuality, fright, grief and hope.
This seductive operetta stars Laura Di Cicco, Lucia Frangione and Marco Soriano, with each performer acting and singing multiple parts.
Writer and Librettist: Jennifer Griffin
Composer, Musical Direction and Musician: Peggy Lee
Direction: Matthew Bissett
Musician: Ron Samworth
Dramaturgy: Liesl Lafferty
Set Design: Andreas Kahre
Original Workshop Director and dramaturgical consultant: Chris-Gerrard Pinker
Fugue Theatre would like to offer a special thank you to Jessica Chambers, Jonathan Ryder and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts for their incredible support. Without them, our production would have been very difficult to mount.
