Il Dream di Britten nella regia di Robert Carsen (1991). Immagini chiave

A Midsummer Night’s Dream set to music by Benjamin Britten (1960), who authored also the libretto together with Peter Pears, is considered a turning-point interpretation of the Shakespearian play, so much so that it deeply influenced crucial episodes in the critical and stage tradition that followed it. The article analyzes the production of Britten’s Dream staged by Canadian director Robert Carsen, presented worldwide from 1991 until today and to date considered one of the most beautiful opera productions ever put on stage. From the analysis of the scenic invention and of some of its elements in particular (realized with the decisive collaboration of set and costume designer Michael Levine), the study brings out how Carsen breaks away from the preexisting scenic tradition and entirely understands the complex novelty of Britten’s opera, achieving a mise en scene of perfect intelligence. Furthermore, the study identifies a relationship with some suggestions coming from the most significant production of the play, that directed by Peter Brook for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1970, the most successful and important mise en scene of the Dream between the XXth e XXIst centuries. It is evinced that, by paying homage to Brook’s production, Carsen wished to get himself in the groove of the transformative strength transmitted by Britten to the play’s tradition.