23 October 2012
Personal Response to Cosi Fan Tutte
Everything
about BYU’s production of Cosi Fan Tutte was
beautifully done. The “moral” of the story, that women are fickle and
unfaithful by nature, is by no means correct. However, the presentation of the
opera was so incredibly well done that I could not be offended, nor could I
help but be thoroughly impressed and amused. The costumes and stage were so
beautiful and that I hated having to look at the subtitles. I instead wanted to
just absorb the beauty of the set, and envelope myself in the world of the
play. BYU’s production of Cosi Fan Tutte
was beautiful and believable because of the detail and symbolism that were
conveyed through the costumes and set.
The
costumes in Cosi Fan Tutte greatly
enriched the theatrical experience. Every costume was very intricately made and
believable. Every frill and tassel added to the grandeur of the scene and
supported the idea that the characters were aristocrats. The women’s dresses
were lacy and bright, which reflected their bubbly and frivolous
personalities. The men wore yellow
uniforms which accented their happiness when they were in the tavern speaking
of their ladies. Don Alfonso wore darker reds and blacks which accented his
cynical personality and he used a cane, which accented his age and made him
appear wiser. The jewelry was also very symbolic. I loved how the men traded
one necklace for another, symbolizing how easily women change one man’s heart
for another. I also liked how in the beginning, the women were admiring their
soldiers’ pictures in their lockets and extolling their virtues. This helped me
see how lovesick the ladies were for their beaus and made it mean so much more
when they each gave up their lockets to the “other men.” Costumes were so
integral to the play because so many of the characters dress up and pretend to
be what they are not. The soldiers dress up as Albanians, with exaggerated
mustaches and colorful paisley outfits. Their costumes were intricate and
accurate enough that they made believable Albanians. It also helped that the
two men switched girls so that they would not be recognized. The mustaches also
helped obscure their identities and exaggerate their expressions, so I could
believe that the men would not be recognized. The maid also changed clothes
frequently, pretending to be a doctor and a notary. To the audience, it was clear
that the maid was just dressing up, so it was easy to follow the plot, but it
was also understandable that the infatuated women would not recognize her because
the costumes were very well done. The costumes in Cosi Fan Tutte were spectacular and supported the storyline and
characters very well because they reflected the characters’ personalities and
the time period.
The set
was so detailed that I believed I was in the era of the play and in the places
portrayed. The ladies’ house had all sorts of props that screamed eighteenth
century aristocracy. The porcelain tea set, the red velvet couch, the paintings
on the wall, the book shelf filled with books, and the potted fern all made the
house look comfortable and distinguished. Even the chairs had intricate designs
carved into them which contrasted the very plain chairs used in the tavern
scene. The tavern was nothing special; just a coat rack, some plain tables and
some chairs. The simplicity of the tavern made it so believable because clearly
a tavern in the seventeen hundreds would not be very well furnished or
decorated. Its plainness created the correct atmosphere for the pub. The second
scene in which the women sing about how wonderful their suitors are takes place
in their garden alcove that mirrors the tavern. The tavern, or the man’s world,
was a set of plain tables and chairs on stage left, while the garden alcove has
the same accessories, only more embellished and on stage right. Instead of
having plain tables and chairs, they have wicker chairs that are more fragile
and more distinguished. After these two scenes, the back curtain opened up and
the rest of the play took place in center stage. The separation of the men and
women in the beginning symbolizes that women and men are fundamentally
different. Almost every other scene after the first two show both men and women
in the middle of the stage, representing their progress from understanding
circumstances only from one view to understanding them from different
perspectives. This idea represents how the men believed their girls would
remain faithful to them, and then realized that the women could not keep themselves
from falling in love with others. The progression from one idea to the next is
represented through the setting. The set appropriately reflected the time
period and circumstances of the play and supported its plot through its
designs.
I
believe that Cosi Fan Tutte was a
marvelous production because of all the hard work and preparation that went
into the set and costumes. The set was faithful to the time period and
symbolized the progression of the characters. The costumes reflected the
characters’ personas and symbolized their struggles. Cosi Fan Tutte’s costumes and set symbolized and reflected the
storyline and made it a beautiful and memorable opera.
