Fidelio - Birmingham Opera Company

Beyond the classic retelling of the opera, Birmingham Opera Company’s Fidelio is a story of personal, political and social imprisonment and liberation. In the interval, every audience member was issued with a numbered black bag. At that point in the performance, they had already been subjected to violence by riot police, had been imprisoned and then released. They were already a part of the performance. When they returned to the tent, they had to find their numbers and stand on them. On instruction, they had to place the black bag over their head. Sharing Florestan's experience of imprisonment in darkness, every audience member stood for nine minutes, beyond reach, in complete darkness, listening, until the words ‘Leonore's coming’. That was their cue to remove the hoods as Leonore - and Beethoven - brought the light of hope into their darkness.