Draw-me Turandot

25 years after directing Madama Butterfly, today still one of the most acclaimed productions in the Opera’s repertoire, Robert Wilson returns to Puccini, this time with Turandot, the Italian composer’s final masterpiece. The pared down minimalist sets and the lighting compositions, so quintessential to the director’s perspective, lend themselves perfectly to the saga of the cruel Princess, daughter of the emperor of an immemorial China. The production is built as a series of tableaux, each borrowed directly from Noh theatre whose ritualised gestures magnify group scenes or bring a hint of burlesque as is the case with the comic trio, Ping, Pang and Pong.