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November 12, 2015 | What Did You Think?,
What did you think of uCarmen/Midsummer Night’s Dream?
Thank you for joining us for the return of South Africa’s Isango Ensemble to Boston!
Whether you saw uCarmen or A Midsummer Night’s Dream, we hope you enjoyed the unique experience of seeing this company interpret these western classics into wholly South African events.
Did you see the company the last time they were here?
What surprised you most about what you saw?
Thanks again for coming! Share your thoughts in the comments below!
I loved Carmen but you need microphones to hear the singing better.
When does Midsummer Night perform?
I’m so glad you liked the show! We have taken some steps to improve the sound so hopefully you’ll be able to hear them better when you come for Midsummer.
Midsummer performs:
Sat 11/14 @8pm
Thurs 11/19 @7:30pm
Sat 11/21 @8pm
I was transported by this production of Carmen. So rich, so beautifully performed, and so compelling. To experience an opera I know so well through the lens of and woven throughout with South African culture allowed me to experience this work anew, on its own terms. I very much look forward to attending Isango Ensemble’s MSND tonight.
p.s. I found the sound quality just right.
Very glad to hear about sound improvements to help those great voices be heard. I too found that one of the distractions of UCarmen, even while absolutely enjoying the performance overall. Seeing Midsummer… tonight
Midsummer Night’s Dream was great fun, especially because I have performed the role of Puck. My disappointment once again was that the audio balance was poor and too often the wonderful Isango voices were lost. The opening above the stage is a huge cavern that swallows sound. Not the best venue for this group to be best appreciated. Hopefully when they return they will be at one of your other venues.
UCarmen was a good production, but I agree with Regge – it was very difficult to understand the words and I was sitting fairly close.
I couldn’t hear whether they were singing in English or not. I spent the first half straining to figure it out. Last year, I enjoyed this company when they performed the Magic Flute, therefore returned to see this production of Carmen. Not only could I not hear, there didn’t seem to be any passion between Carmen and Don Jose. Thumbs down from this critic.
Saw Midsummer Nights Dream.
Loved it
The actors standing on stage watching the audience buzz around finding seats etc was an interesting way to begin. It felt like the audience was being analyzed by the actors and that we were the show for them.
The music and the singing were miked perfectly but couldn’t always hear the spoken word. So,if I hadn’t already known the story, I might not have been able to follow. Anyway,the performance was mesmerizing, the music and the voices wonderful
Opera companies routinely use supertitles even with English language operas these days– that would have been a great help for the audience most of whom seemed new to the plots
Great performances–wonderful fun– both of these worked better than the Magic Flute or maybe just hearing the elegance of Mozaet limited by marimba was too painful for me
I enjoyed last year’s Magic Flute more as it had more of the flavor of South Africa than does Carmen. Carmen was beautifully sung and performed, but, aside from a few moments, it was like going to a well done Carmen. Audio quality was fine.
Having seen The Magic Flute last year, then Midsummer Night’s Dream and Carmen, both, there were not surprises as much as sheer enjoyment for the stunning result of combining local dialect, dress and movement, with superb voices. Some of the enjoyment comes from the familiarity with the opera. The character Carmen was absolutely delicious – loved her seduction! My one disappointment was that Carmen’s death was anticlimactic. Was that staging? The way it was written? I don’t know. I hope Isango returns – I plan to be in the audience.
Susan
I thoroughly enjoyed both productions but wished they had used surtitles
in English as the majority of people attending are English speaking. That
is the reality and I don’t think it takes anything away from the production
but in fact adds much to understanding and enjoying the meaning of the story.
The all marimba band was a beautiful variation on the traditional orchestra and
wonderful to watch. I wish I had seen the Magic Flute by Isango.