The Tsar Wants His Photograph Taken (Scottish Opera 31/07/2021-01/08/2021)
At this point, Weill/Kaiser's The Tsar Wants His Photograph Taken is an old friend.
In early 2021, I was astonished to be approached by Scottish Opera to discuss using my 2019 translation of The Tsar for an upcoming production with their youth group. I'd been planning on making a revised version for some time, and ended up having a wonderful time adapting it to director Roxana Haines' vibrant vision of a contemporary world of pervasive social media and paparazzi.
Having played a small part in bringing this piece back into the repertoire, it was a great pleasure - both to see it out in the wild and, from a personal point of view, to have my Scottish Opera premiere.
“Can your aim be better than through the lens of a camera?”
Photo credit Julie Howden