The Flying Dutchman 101: Kathleen Smith Belcher, Director

The Flying Dutchman premiered over 180 years in the past on January 2, 1843 on the Königliches Hoftheater in Dresden. Regardless of its age, this opera nonetheless has many related themes, together with neighborhood, household, love, and sacrifice. It’s as much as the director to place their very own spin on the opera. This time round, the position of Director Kathleen Smith Belcher is exclusive. She is placing on a brand new manufacturing of The Flying Dutchman, full with never-before-seen units and costumes. Discover her ideas and interpretation of The Flying Dutchman beneath.

Be taught extra about The Flying Dutchman, on stage on the Ellie Caulkins Opera Home from February 24 to March 3>>

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Inspiration for the Neighborhood

I spent my summers on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  There’s a fishing village, Cortez, that has been in existence for generations. Decade after decade, this insular neighborhood distrusts the “snowbirds” and summer season vacationers however is financially dependent upon them for existence. They proceed to work the seas and the nets, attempting to make a viable dwelling as business fisherman. It appeared to me these individuals in all probability handed down tales very very like the parable of the Dutchman for generations and superstitions round these myths have labored themselves into on a regular basis life. Girls, who for a few years had been anticipated to remain dwelling and wait for his or her fathers, boyfriends, and husbands to return dwelling after a day or a number of days at sea, had been excluded from a number of the very rituals they helped to assist. These girls are simply as sturdy and salty as the boys they waited for–as is Senta.

Dutchman By a Feminist Lense

When taking a look at The Flying Dutchman with a feminist gaze, we will see lots of crimson flags. Why does Daland mainly dump his solely daughter to a person he has recognized for 5 minutes? If Senta is supposedly “boy loopy,” why does she solely communicate of being true and devoted–“treu” in German–versus mentioning being in love, or “liebe?” The Dutchman is portrayed as a determine of male authority and management whereas Senta is depicted as a girl who’s keen to sacrifice the whole lot for love. This energy dynamic raises questions on how girls are sometimes anticipated to undergo male authority and the implications of defying societal norms.

Take a look at the guide Kathleen Smith Belcher says impressed this feminist perspective>>

I believe there may be the Aristocracy in Senta recognizing the ache another person is struggling and figuring out she might finish that individual’s ache by making a sacrifice for them. Senta’s deep religion and empathy lead her to make a really deliberate alternative to finish the ache and sorrow of one other. If we begin to take a look at Senta not as a “crazy-in-love” girl who’s raging towards her father’s will however as a giving, loving, nearly Christ-like determine in her willingness to present her life to free others from their ache, we will see her in a brand new gentle and with deeper empathy.

Notes written by Kathleen Smith Belcher, Stage Director for Opera Colorado’s 2024 manufacturing of The Flying Dutchman.

See Kathleen Smith Belcher’s imaginative and prescient come to life with Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. Get tickets right this moment>>