FOC-Blog

when a large number of things fail to go wrong.”

That’s a quote from Maskerade, a delightful novel by Terry Pratchett.  The other side of that equation is that when just a few of the many elements involved in putting together an operatic production do actually go wrong, the only sensible thing to do is. . .

[CHOOSE ONE (1) FROM THE FOLLOWING LIST OF CLICHES]

• face the music.
• know when to fold ‘em.
• turn out the lights (the party’s over).

I’m sad to say we reached that point with Tartuffe for the Fringe Festival earlier this week.  It’s still a little too close for me to discuss it objectively, and I’m also incredibly busy at work right now, so I’ll end this posting by saying that everyone involved with the production is hoping we can find another venue and offer more performances of this delightful work.

Shortly after our November/December 2007 performances of Tartuffe, we decided to submit the production to the 2008 Capital Fringe Festival.  We were thrilled to be notified in March that we were selected, although they didn’t give us specific dates and a venue assignment until late April.

Unfortunately, by April the lovely costumes that our Elmire, Andrea Schewe, had pulled together from various sources were no longer available due to other commitments.  What to do?  Necessity being the mother of invention, we discussed what sort of costumes we might more easily get our hands on, and what period and locale might fit with those costumes. 

We came up with the American South in the earlier part of the 20th century.  Or, as we like to call it, “Moliere meets Tennessee Williams!”