As regular guests of the Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Clarac, Deloeuil > le lab created a dystopic and fascinating vision of Verdi’s Il Trovatore already in 2021. Remaining concerted with their artistic approach of opera as “a machine testing the presence”, Clarac, Deloeuil > le lab decided now to stage Haendel’s Serse with bubbling freshness and juvenile passion in a contemporary urban surrounding. The audacity turned out to become a triumph.

Press-excerpts:

"Entrusted to the iconoclastic Clarac et Deloeuil > le lab, the production brings a fresh and youthful breeze into this piece from the 18th century." (ClassiqueNews, Emmanuel Andrieu) Source

"Clarac's and Deloeuil's basic concept is pretty clever and permits the justification of the delaying tactic within the piece that owes its dramatic impetus mainly to the vivacity of the music." (Forumopera, Guillaume Saintonge) Source

"The world of skateboarding suits perfectly to the game both on the stage as on the screen, generating situations which are often coherent, sometimes funny, but never boring." (Anaclase, Bertrand Bolognesi) Source

"All boys and girls are of my age… The stage setting in the classical sense is here a skatepark where rivals are competing against one another. A unique place where everyone meets riding boards, scooters or bikes." (ConcertClassic, Laurent Bury) Source

"For the plot of the comedy the two directors create a new and modern theatrical machine." (Olyrix, José Pons) Source

"Serse on skateboard and hyped up ... The queerish jumble is staged expressively zeitgeisty and with as much mockery as compassion." (sceneweb, Christophe Candoni) Source

"Jean-Philippe Clarac and Olivier Deloeuil deliver an opera by Handel with outstandingly way-out humor and moreover in modern style. The first-class cast and an adequate acting of the performers are thrilling the audience. (Diapason, Anne Ibos-Augé) Source

29.03.23