The Gift of the Magi 
(Immigrant Xmas)
An opera by David Conte (USA) based on a short story by O. Henry
- first time in Germany!

A new romantic opera about Della and Jim, two penniless lovers, who made an oath not to give each other anything for Christmas this year.

La Bohème` in New York 1910 and Berlin 2010. 

music by David Conte
libretto by Nicholas Giardini

concept: Anke Rauthmann, Lauren Lee
directed by Anke Rauthmann
musical direction/ piano: Kanako Nakagawa
set: Robert Pflanz
film: Ahmet Golbol
costumes: Claudia Möbius 
with Lauren Lee, Tanja Simic Queiroz, Andrew Young, Christian Michael Newman, Remo Tobiaz, Raphael Bremme, Tobias Hagge

It´s Christmas time, the season of family, joy and giving. But how do you feel when your family is far away? And money is so tight you cannot even buy a gift for your loved one? - New York 1910 and Berlin 2010 - two metropolitan cities, both the focus of immigration of young people, who left their home to find a better life.

Berlin International Opera stages the German opening of this new romantic opera (based on O.Henry´s famous short-story) and links it with the sometimes bleak reality of the lives of foreign artists in Berlin.

Fantasy and reality, life on and off stage become one. Sung and performed by singers of different ethnic and national backgrounds - and documentated on film at authentic locations in Berlin. 

"Delicate, intense and free of cliché..." (Opera News)   
 
supported by the Berlin Senate Intercultural Affairs Department

 English Theatre Berlin | main stage
 Fidicinstraße 40, 10965 Berlin-Kreuzberg

December 18, 2010 / 8pm 
December 19, 2010 / 6pm
December 20 + 21, 2010 / 8pm

January 3 - 6, 2011 / 8pm

Tickets: 20,- / 10,- students / Friendly Tuesday all tickets 10,-

www.berlininternationalopera.de
www.etberlin.de  
Ticket - Hotline 030/691 1211

* * * SAMUEL BARBER'S CENTENNIAL * * * THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF SAMUEL BARBER'S BIRTH * * *

THE MEDIUM / A HAND OF  BRIDGE

A bright flippant bridge game suddenly turns into a dark seance, but in the end, they all play at cards again. An ingenious conflation of Samuel Barber (1910-1981) minute opera and society satire A Hand of Bridge (1959) and his friend's Gian-Carlo Menotti's (1911-2007) chamber opera and mystery story The Medium (1946). Barber and Menotti are one of the best known artist couples of the 20th century's music.

A Hand of Bridge: Two middle-aged couples play a game of bridge. While being absorbed by the game, their thoughts run of track, dreaming of dolce vita, the luxurious life, of retaliating against their bosses, and of cheating on their significant others. In a breathtaking manner, lies and deceptions, appearance and being, are switching roles in the virtuous intimate play, condensing to an ensemble of alienation. Everyone is playing their cards close to their chests. No one is revealing his or her thoughts. Everyone lies.

All of the sudden, the frivolous circle has disappeared and the audience finds itself thrown into an even gloomier scenario:

The Medium: Madame Flora is a fortune-teller and an expert in intuiting people's secrets and longings. She ingeniously knows how to impress her clients with mumbo-jumbo, involving her daughter Monica and her deaf-mute adjunct, playing tricks on the keyboard. One day, a real vision befalls Madame Flora during a simulated séance. Chased by irrational fear and the feeling of having seen into darkness and deepness, Madame Flora falls into paranoia and unglues. Being in panic, she directs her aggression towards the most vulnerable and deaf-mute Toby.

At the end everyone is playing bridge again.

+ + + c a s t & c r e w , t i c k e t s & m o r e + + +

mit/with Nena Brzakovic, Jonny Chambilla, Rebecca Fromherz, Christian Michael Newman, Gwendolyn Reid, Sirje Viise und Andrew Young | Regie/directed by Anke Rauthmann (The Medium), Jean-Ronald LaFond (A Hand of Bridge) | Musikalische Leitung/musical direction by Kanako Nakagawa | Bühne + Kostüm/set by Isolde Wittke | Foto/photo by Peter Ehrentraut

Englische Originalfassung / English language

TICKETS: 16 / 10 ermäßigt / 3-Euro-Kulturticket / Gruppenrabatt

F40 - Theater Thikwa
Fidicinstraße 40
10965 Berlin

http://www.thikwa.de
Telefon: Thikwa 69 50 50 920
Tickets:  Thikwa 69 50 50 922, tickets@thikwa.de