Gianni Schicchi | Giacomo Puccini
Stage Director: Paul Cegys
Production Design: Marzena Puzniak
Projection & Lighting Design: Paul Cegys
Production Design: Marzena Puzniak
Projection & Lighting Design: Paul Cegys
While Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera, in this staging I wanted to explore a layer which often feels overlooked: The authenticity of Buoso Donati’s religious devotion. In doing so, I wanted to draw attention to our society’s preoccupation with the “I”, with individual material gain and with the erosion of a collective spirituality. The piece, however, is not about religion, but rather it is about a family’s confrontation with a spiritual world they find unfamiliar. To this end, Buoso Donati has passed away in mid-meditation, as a Buddhist, aspiring to escape Samsara*. Estranged from him, entering his private sanctuary, his relatives are confronted not only by the loss of their supposed inheritance, but also by the alienation caused by his chosen spirituality. Against this background, we focus on the compelling and determined force of love. A love, which motivates Gianni Schicchi to use every trick in the book in order to outwit the wealthy echelon, and secure for his daughter a place where her love for Rinuccio might succeed and be protected.