In Barrie Kosky's production of The Magic Flute, everything is straight out of a fairy tale, and every idea demonstrates the director's immense sense of humor, who must have thoroughly enjoyed the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. When the red curtain opens, the audience sees only a white screen, where the frolics begin – the director imaginatively juggles, to the rhythm of Mozart's music, elements of silent film, slapstick comedy, and cartoon. The co-creators of this production – Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt of the "1927" ensemble – have combined film animation with live theater. The effect is dazzling. Here, Papageno, this bawdy simpleton, here portrayed as a sad clown in the style of Buster Keaton, gets drunk in the company of pink elephants honking cocktails from narrow glasses. The Queen of the Night is a giant spider, Monostatos appears as a pale vampire in a Count Dracula costume, and Pamina wears a black wig with fringe, which makes her resemble the actress and dancer Louise Brooks, a star of silent films.

The Magic Flute

Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

Simon Boccanegra was written in the 1850s, at a time when Giuseppe Verdi, his confidence boosted by his growing fame, decided to challenge the operatic tradition. It is a gloomy opera dominated by low voices, a baritone in the lead male role, and devoid of supporting female characters. Its 1857 world premiere was not well received: nearing the end of his life, Arrigo Boito introduced far-reaching changes to the work together with the composer and it was the altered version completed in 1881 that finally triumphed on the world’s opera stages.

Simon Boccanegra

Everything in Barrie Kosky’s production of The Magic Flute seems like a fairytale and each subsequent idea is a proof of the director’s enormous sense of humour: the composer must have had a lot of fun working with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s score. The red curtain opens to reveal nothing but a white screen where all the frolics will soon take place – the director will juggle elements of silent film, slapstick comedy and cartoon art. His collaborators, Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt, also known as “1927”, mixed film animation with live theatre. The effect is stunning. Papageno, the boisterous bumpkin portrayed here as a sad clown channelling Buster Keaton, gets drunk onstage in the company of pink elephants quaffing cocktails from flute glasses. The Queen of the Night is a huge spider, Monostatos appears as a pale vampire dressed as Count Dracula, while Pamina’s black wig with a fringe makes her look like Louise Brooks, the iconic silent film actress and dancer.

Older audiences of the Polish National Opera will undoubtedly remember Lech Majewski's splendid classical production of George Bizet’s most famous opera with monumental sets by Janusz Kapusta and costumes by designed by Hanna Bakuła. Twenty-three years after that premiere, the job of staging Carmen for the Teatr Wielki was taken on by Poland’s popular actor and director, Andrzej Chyra. This time round, the Warsaw audience was treated to a completely different and hardly traditional take on the masterpiece of the world opera repertoire.   

Carmen

Simon Boccanegra was written in the 1850s, a period when Giuseppe Verdi, inspired by his growing fame, was challenging operatic tradition. It is a dark work, dominated by low voices, with a baritone as the protagonist, and no supporting female roles. The world premiere in 1857 was not well-received; towards the end of his life, Arrigo Boito and the composer made far-reaching changes to the work, and only this 1881 version achieved success on opera stages.

Gabriela Legun

Events

Upcoming events

19 - 24 Mar, 2026

Simon Boccanegra · Polish National Opera

Past events

Dec 3, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026

The Magic Flute · Polish National Opera

14 - 23 Feb, 2025

Simon Boccanegra · Polish National Opera

Future and recently performed repertoire

Amelia Grimaldi in Simon Boccanegra by Verdi

Polish National Opera

Pamina in The Magic Flute by Mozart

Polish National Opera

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