Orpheus in the Underworld | Laughing at the Opera

There's a man on stage. He's moaning and groaning about the Wulff affair and moral values. A majority of the audience looks more than a little puzzled and a tentative voice whispers "are we in the right play?" "Orpheus!" yells someone from the back. Yes, this must be it.

The stage hosting this Operette based on Jacques Offenbach is modeled after a pop-up children's book, forcing actors, singers and the choir to modify and shift things around during their performance, their awkward motions making for a first comical effect. 

Eurydike and Orpheus, the epitomes of a faithful couple in ancient Greek mythology, become fed up with each other by the end of the first act and decide to get a divorce. But when Eurydike is kidnapped by Pluto, the master of the underworld (played by Ben Becker), Public Opinion, played by Cornelius Obonya, intervenes. Calling on Orpheus' role model function for loyalty and marriage, it convinces Orpheus to fly to Mount Olympus and ask the father of the gods, Jupiter, for help.

Jupiter, aka Juppi, is a hard-drinking fellow and womanizer. But as soon as his omniscient wife Juno tunes in per telephone, he turns into a submissive coward. After the Public Opinion and Orpheus have expressed their claims at Mount Olympus, the group embarks on a staff outing to hell in the name of honor and loyalty.

Ancient Greece meets modern humor - opera meets modern voices. The result is a bizarre, yet utterly entertaining performance at the Staatsoper im Schillertheater. The piece is certainly no pledge for the holy sanctity of marriage. Instead, its ambitions lie in unmasking the decline in values of contemporary society.

(jh)