FIRST SCENE
Our fate is predetermined by the Eternal Woman. She is both visible and invisible, she is a shadow, she is the sun, she is a beloved, she is a mother, she is desired, she is sought and awaited. In the womb of her presence in life, she carries with her birth and death, salvation and ruin – she ignites and extinguishes fires. She is Pandora.
SECOND SCENE
Victor. Artist in the theatre, artist in life. A funny man – always cheerful, always in the mood, a man who doesn’t seem to walk on the surface of the earth, but walks a foot above it. He is small, not particularly handsome, but walking through the world in his own way, he sees everything that happens around him differently. He sees more than others see. Victor is always cheerful, making everyone laugh. But when left alone, he is sad and dreamy. In him burns the fire of that boldness which leads him down dangerous and unpredictable paths. Perhaps because he loves life, he always carries a small camera with him and documents everything that impresses him. Left alone with himself, he is lonely, desolate, and empty. The cheerful man...
THIRD SCENE
After Victor, an enamored woman – Amanda – relentlessly follows him. She is in love with him, or with the image she has created of him, which makes her believe that she truly loves him – it doesn’t matter – she follows him like a shadow. The love-struck Amanda is hopeful – she probably believes she will win Victor’s attention and rejoice in his favor, but the small, funny man has a distant horizon for his dreams and desires. He has long noticed and is irrevocably drawn to the black, yet beautiful shadow of Pandora.
FOURTH SCENE
In the confused yet swiftly running society, heading in its inexplicable directions – the black shadow of Pandora stands out. Each person, just like her, carries their old and worn suitcase, inherited from parents and ancestors. In every suitcase, each person carries their hidden personal vice, their own memories, personal history, their own fire. Inside smolder the fires of passions – temptations, desires, aversions, fears... And at the very bottom, lying there, is hope. It often remains unnoticed, forgotten.
Victor desires Pandora. She is unreachable, inscrutable, surprising, unfaithful, fickle...
A thief tries to steal Pandora’s suitcase. Victor stops the thief. In the ensuing conflict, Pandora’s suitcase opens slightly, and from it, all the temptations, passions, and sins fly into the open air. They seem to “contaminate” the air with temptations and fill the space with a troubling tension.
The slightly opened suitcase of the eternal Pandora predetermines the fate of the small society on stage. Everyone reacts to this event. Victor saves the suitcase, closes it in an attempt to save the small society, and returns it to the alluring Pandora.
FIFTH SCENE
Proud and independent, Pandora seems to show favor to the small man. She tempts him even more with her attention, with caresses and passion, forever embedding herself in his mind and heart, tearing him away from Amanda. Love scenes unfold in the homes of people. Such is the dynamic of Pandora-Victor-Amanda, as well as two other couples - The First is conflict-ridden, inconsistent, and capricious, while The Second represents harmony, union, and complete devotion and understanding.
SIXTH SCENE
The society watches and observes the personal space and lives of each individual within it. Anyone who is different is targeted - bringing unease, anxiety, and fueling smoldering fires. No one is allowed to stand out, no one can voluntarily abandon the society that surrounds them. Society does not favor those who distinguish themselves; it condemns them through its laws of exclusion and destruction.
SEVENTH SCENE
Jealousy, pleasure, the egoism of striving to possess the other, and the escape from the traps of dependencies - these are the forces that bind the man and woman of this couple. One single word - Passion - defines the essence of their relationship.
EIGHTH SCENE
The man and woman of this couple are united by mutual trust, the gentleness of understanding, and the beauty of communion - all of which are embodied in a single word - Love.
NINTH SCENE
Elastic game. Childhood burns within us until the cool days of old age.
TENTH SCENE
Lonely, abandoned, Amanda is forgotten even by the soulless society that surrounds her with the coldness of indifference.
ELEVENTH SCENE
Victor sinks into the abyss of the Eternal Pandora.
TWELFTH SCENE
Alone, Victor is left only with his dreams of Pandora's unattainable love. He still believes in his idealistic expectations of how the small society will live in harmony and forget the weight of its ancestral baggage, carefully gathered by generations in the old, worn-out suitcases. He is on the verge of his patience, on the edge of his strength. Funny to others in society, now, when he is alone, Victor gives freedom to his passion, to his protest.
THIRTEENTH SCENE
A sudden wail of sirens announces the end of the seemingly serene existence of society in false harmony and demonstrative unity. Society self-destructs in the unquenchable flames of the explosion of war.
FOURTEENTH SCENE
All that remains is the sky - the heavenly canopy is clear, and only the clouds still hide the dark memories of war. Pandora is the black shadow of Woman, the one who gives birth and will continue to give birth to warriors, prepared for self-destruction. She wanders alone among the small mounds where her children lie buried. Lonely and forsaken, the suitcases of each fallen one are discarded to the will of random currents... War has turned the world into a dump.
FIFTEENTH SCENE
People walk in a conveyor. Cassandra is the first to say something of her own, something she cannot keep inside herself. Everyone has their own message, tied to the fires that burn within them, to the world, to the theater, consumed by the fire of self-destruction. The rest continue - finally, everyone speaks at once. Time is not enough…
SIXTEENTH SCENE
Around Victor, the space tightens, pressing him, he is surrounded by society that closes in on him threateningly, not allowing him to breathe. Hope remains forgotten at the bottom of his consciousness, at the bottom of his heart. The world seems unable to bear this, it cannot withstand it, it self-ignites. Victor burns.
SEVENTEENTH SCENE
After the fires of self-destruction, there are forces, there are people who begin anew to rebuild everything that, just moments ago, had been ruthlessly and irresponsibly destroyed. With a smile, life must go on...
EIGHTEENTH SCENE
Pandora is the solitary, fatal, desired by all but never accepted by anyone, the Eternal Woman. She has become accustomed to her loneliness, becoming unnaturally strong and beyond the control of anyone or anything. This is how she sees herself in the mirror of her life.
NINETEENTH SCENE
The "White" waltz. An optimistic ending, a waltz for all, a look towards the future.
First performance: 7.06.2024, Ruse, Stage of State Opera Ruse
Libretto and choreography - N. Osipova, Scenography, multimedia and costumes - Eslitsa Popova.
"FIRE takes place at a particularly critical moment in the history of our opera theatre - on the eve of its 75th anniversary, when it is unable to use its home, its hall, in which it has created its history for almost eight decades.
The music of Dmitri Shostakovich, drawn from his symphonies and ballets, most fully reflects the mood conveyed by the performance. The modern alternative ballet production reveals the "fires" that burn in the souls of those who have dedicated themselves to the theatrical stage. "FIRE" is an experiment that grants complete freedom to two fascinating creators – the choreographer Natalia Osipova, associated with the avant-garde art of France, and the artist Eslitsa Popova.
Everything comes to life on the suffering stage of the Ruse Opera. Stage-history, stage-memory, stage-legacy – for the passionate fires that have consumed its artists through the decades – the fires of love and jealousy, the fires of fame and envy, the fires of blind obedience and protest, the fires of workaholism and devotion. Fires that smolder or burn fiercely, fires that engulf us, fires from whose ashes we inevitably rise with the strength of hope.
The performance "FIRE" is also a reflection of the global fires of today – wars, homeless refugees, political adventures and behind-the-scenes dealings, the trampling of moral, ethical, and aesthetic values, of which we, through our art, are the bearers.
With the performance "FIRE," the Rousse Opera seeks like-minded individuals, expects new friendships, and hopes for support. Support and unity – in the name of goodness, beauty, and the fundamental values that are the privilege of European civilization, of which we, the people of music and dance, are the ambassadors.
Besides a personal call for help, the performance is a warning to society, even to the whole world – a warning from people who have experienced self-destruction through their own fire.
