Les Enfants Terribles at Oakland Metro October 7, 2006

LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES
an opera by Philip Glass
libretto by Jean Cocteau

Show - 8:00pm
Doors - 7.00pm

Tickets: Advance - General $32.00
At the door - General $36.00

THE OPERA
Composer Philip Glass’ work Les Enfants Terribles combines opera and dance to deliver a work, which challenges the conventions of both forms. Based on Jean Cocteau’s 1929 novel of the same title, the piece is a tragedy, which explores the power of love in its darker expression: narcissism, exclusivity, and ultimately self-destruction.
The Oakland Opera Theater will produce Glass' opera in collaboration with the Vietnamese performing arts group, The Nguyen Dance Company. We will explore the fusion between opera and dance as a means to express the self-enclosed universe of Cocteau’s protagonists.

THE STORY
Cocteau’s novel tells the story of a brother and sister, Paul and Lise, who live in a fantasy world of their own imaginings. They are severed from the outside world by the violent death of their Mother. Isolated and totally dependent on each other, they pass their days in their "Room", acting out wild fantasies which they term "playing the Game." At first innocent, these games become increasingly twisted. Set in French Indochina in the early 1950’s, the sibling’s interior world becomes a reflection of the escalating violence of the society, which is transforming around them.

Official Website: http://www.oaklandopera.org/Les_Enfants.html