This archive report was first published on 8 July 2019.
Published on July 8, 2019, Ivo van Hove's production of 'Mahagonny' is a thought-provoking adaptation of the classic opera, using video and film to bring the satirical world of Brecht and Weill to life in the 21st century.
The use of video in the production is a reflection of our contemporary lives, where historic moments and meaningless minutiae are filmed and shared in real time. This modern tool of alienation serves as a reminder that the audience shouldn't lose itself in the narrative, and that the world 'Mahagonny' satirizes is very much our own reality.
Van Hove's production also presents the titles of each scene on the video screen, matter-of-fact phrases that were an indispensable feature of the original production. However, he isn't overly faithful, and his interventions include the treatment of the female characters, who are more empowered than ever.
The production opens with the stage nearly empty, with only a scaffold holding up the video screen. From there, Mahagonny is built from the ground up, with dressing room mirrors, craft services, and enormous green screens. The city is established as a 'spider web' that attracts the working-class masses, including four lumberjacks from Alaska.
One of the lumberjacks, Jimmy Mahoney, falls for the prostitute Jenny, and their first love scene is rendered onscreen as a grainy black-and-white melodrama out of old Hollywood. However, Jimmy is unhappy in Mahagonny, and leads the people of the city to a new way of life: one based on absolute freedom, and absolute pleasure.
