Music

The production will be presented under the title ‘Maria Stuarda’ (Mary Stuart), a tragic opera in two acts, with music by Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848), set to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Andrea Maffei’s translation of Friedrich Schiller’s 1800 play Maria Stuart.

The performance is meticulously crafted by the art group’s director Professor Lo King-man, who handpicked the most spectacular numbers and rearranged them into a series of dramatic singing scenes. The scenes are linked together with brief narratives spoken by an actor in the guise of the original author, Friedrich Schiller, who personally walks the audience through this story about the power struggle at the English imperial court. Mary I is imprisoned in England – nominally for the murder of her husband, but actually due to her adamant assertion as the rightful heir to the English throne. She is the prime suspect for plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I, the Queen of England. Elizabeth is the cousin of Mary. She is hesitant about executing Mary. Pleading for pardon, Mary writes a letter to Elizabeth and sends it through the Earl of Leicester.

This is a delicate situation because the Earl of Leicester is in love with Mary while Elizabeth sees him as a potential partner for marriage proposal. He nevertheless helps to arrange a meeting (which did not happen in history, but is an important turning point in Schiller’s original play). The meeting ends in an acrimonious quarrel, caused by Mary’s unwillingness to submit entirely to Elizabeth’s wishes. The situation becomes much more complicated.

Convinced by her Chancellor, Lord Cecil, that to safeguard the stability of the English throne, Elizabeth must sign Mary’s death warrant. She does so, claiming that it is a decision based on the expectations of her subjects. Mary’s death sentence is confirmed by Cecil, and Leicester is ordered to witness the execution. Mary goes to the block, accepting her fate to die as a victim of power struggle between the two monarchs.