Gozo is currently in the midst of its opera season with the first performance of Verdi's Rigoletto to be performed at Teatru Astra on Thursday. A second show will be held on Saturday.

The Malta Independent took a peek at the work taking place at Teatru Astra. Stage preparations and costumes are reaching completion.

Meanwhile, world renowned director Mario Corradi took time to explain his interpretation of the opera.

Rigoletto is a story of power and corruption. Verdi worked on the opera between 1840 and 1850 as he was fascinated by the subject. Its character was one of the most important creations of the theatre of all countries and all ages, Verdi had decided, and rightly so, as stories of power and corruption will continue to be heard.

The opera is based on Victor Hugo's play Le roi s'amuse. It depicts King Francois I of France as an immoral and cynical womaniser, something which was not accepted in Europe then. It became a highly controversial subject and Hugo had already had trouble with censorship in France, which had banned productions of his play after its first performance nearly twenty years earlier. Since at that time Austria directly controlled much of Northern Italy, the Austrian Board of Censors handed down its judgement on Verdi's Rigoletto.

The role of king was muted to that of a duke of a renaissance court due to the high element of corruption.

The story is about a jester (Rigoletto, who will be interpreted by Peter Danailov) who has a daughter, Gilda (Miriam Cauchi). Rigoletto suffers some kind of retribution for acting as an accomplice to the duke (Antonino Interisano) in crimes. The duke used to abduct young women and rape them.

The element of deformity is highly important and an aspect which director Corradi plays a lot on. Rigoletto himself is a quintessential dwarf with a hunchback (but Dr Corradi portrays him as a character who is not naturally deformed and enters the role as a day job). His daughter Gilda gets abducted and raped and so he tries to take revenge.

Within the first 10 minutes, the audience learns that the duke is in love with a young woman whom he seduces. Rape, murder and seduction together with moral and physical deformity are recurring elements. The opera could be described as a horror story in today's terms.

Director Corradi decided not to depict physical places but gave it a modern twist as he believes opera is much more than a story.

Moreover, audiences are used to Hollywood's special effects and so, physical places (rooms, streets etc.) are rarely depicted in today's theatrical works. In addition, the opera was played over and over again in its traditional setting worldwide. In fact, this is the third representation of Rigoletto at Teatru Astra but this time round the audience should be prepared for the unexpected.

Patiently, Dr Corradi explains that the language of theatre is composed of signs and gestures. Ideas are therefore conveyed through images. It is not a gossip magazine telling who is sleeping with whom. So he decided to transform the stage into something cold and metallic which will probably jolt the audience at first.

It is simple when compared to the elaborate sets often used, yet a lot of thought went behind it.

Metal sheets reflect images, deforming them at the same time. Meanwhile, a feather mirror will be installed. Again this reflects and deforms images when lit from in front and people sitting in the front rows can see their own distorted reflection. When lit from the back, the mirror becomes transparent, revealing a staircase and people descending into hell.

The element of power is shown through extremely rich attire: the traditional costumes of the period. Their elaborateness stands out more against the bare background, leaving a greater impact on the audience.

The modern setting however presents a number of challenges for the director, actors and the audience.

Dr Corradi explains that Gilda was a minor, aged 15 or 16, when she gets raped by the duke. However, she falls in love with him. Only her father considers the rape an insult.

The director must therefore portray the differences through the actors, the play of light and colour.

He makes it clear this is no reassuring bourgeois story.

The tunes are still wonderful, the actors, singers and orchestra are very good and the whole representation will therefore be beautiful. But the duke will still be raping a girl.

Dr Corradi only decided to come up with this challenging production on his third occasion working at Teatru Astra. He had directed Macbeth (2007) and Turandot (2008) at the same theatre, always taking things a step further. His first two operas were well received so he is confident this production will work as well.

Teasingly, Dr Corradi lets us know that this time round, Giuseppe Verdi too will be on stage. However, we will have to keep wondering how this will happen until later on this week.

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