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Theatre of the Warsaw Chamber Opera

Henry Purcell / David Pountney

Masque of Might

Libretto | David Pountney

PREMIERE

Creative Team

Direction | David Pountney
Music Direction | Paul Goodwin
Set Design | Leslie Travers
Costumes | Marie-Jeanne Lecca
Choreographer and Associate Director | Denni Sayers
Lighting Direction | Paweł Murlik
Video Projections | David Haneke

Assistant Conductor | Miłosz Korpol
Assistant Director | Magdalena Milczarska
Assistant Set Designer | Katarzyna Gabrat-Szymańska
Assistant Choreographer | Sebastian Piotrowicz

Cast

Dancers
Sebastian Piotrowicz, Jakub Piotrowicz, Jarema Serafin,
Natalia Jóźwiak, Weronika Wołowicz, Weronika Juchimiuk

The Choir of the Warsaw Chamber Opera

Chorus Master | Krzysztof Kusiel-Moroz

Period Instrument Orchestra of the Warsaw Chamber Opera
Musicae Antiquae Collegium Varsoviense (MACV)

Conductor | Paul Goodwin

In a setting filled with magic and mystery, two powerful beings – Nebulous and Elena – look down upon an Earth plunged into chaos, over which the ruthless ruler Diktat is beginning to assert his power. They summon gods and spirits, asking them to shroud the world in darkness. Meanwhile, two sycophants, Tousel Blond and Ginger Strumpet, pay homage to the new tyrant.

Diktat reviews a procession of prisoners arrested for their climate activism. Nebulous and Scrofulous attempt to warn him about the suffering of the planet and the consequences of its continuing destruction. Nebulous paints a harrowing picture of a poisoned and devastated Earth. Enraged, the ruler orders both men to be imprisoned.

The prisoners sink into despair and beg for an end to their torment. Before them appears a body covered with a shroud. Diktat reveals the corpse of Nebulous, while Elena mourns his death.

In a grotesque display of strength and masculinity, Diktat kills a wild boar, and his entourage hails him as a hero. Elena, still consumed by grief, is forced to join Sceptic and the tyrant’s supporters in paying tribute to him.

Sceptic persuades Strumpet and Tousel to turn against the ruler. At last, they recognise the emptiness of the flattery, deceit and lies that sustain Diktat’s regime. Sceptic meets Activist in secret. Together, they call upon the forces of nature – the wind, the earth and the elements – to rise against the tyrant.

Diktat begins to be haunted by nightmares. Overcome by growing fear, he encounters a Wolf and a Fox, who convey to him the cries of the trees and of nature itself, demanding to be heard. The ruler rejects their warnings, dismissing the prospect of climate catastrophe as a lie and a hoax.

Sceptic, Activist and Elena summon the dead to rise and bear witness to the disintegration of the world – the roar of melting glaciers, the trembling earth and the destruction of nature. Increasingly terrified, Diktat longs to know the future.

A Seer appears before him and reminds him that every human being, even a king, must submit to destiny. The Seer, Sceptic and Elena reveal to Diktat a vision in the form of a play. In it, King Saul visits the Witch of Endor in order to learn what the future holds and discovers that his reign is drawing to an end.

Crushed by this revelation, Diktat begs God for mercy. His power collapses, and he is destroyed. Elena reveals her true identity – the Queen of the Night.

The darkness recedes. Light returns, and the wounded Earth begins to heal.