Carmen, Durham Opera Ensemble ‘15

This production updated Bizet’s much-loved opera loosely to 1940s Franco-era Spain, where my main conceptual focus was on entropy, religious pressure and, through that, feminism. In a world where religious and cultural practices dictate thought and expectations of gender, who is it that we need to hold to account?

Director & Designer: Crispin Lord
Conductor: Lewis Wilkinson
Lighting Designer: Gabriel Finn

Carmen: Sophia Smith-Galer
Don Jose: Phil Durrant
Micaëla: Claire Ward
Frasquita: Fiona Brindle
Mercedes: Emer Acton
Zuniga: Julian Purdy
Dancaïre: Sam Wood
Remendando: Tom Brooke
Lilas Pastia: Hannah Azuonye

Photos: Gabriel Finn