Don Giovanni Staging Project
This production of Don Giovanni will highlight the destructiveness of misogyny, keep the reality of sexual violence at the forefront of discussion, and showcase the potential of empowered women to push back against oppression and violence.
Scene Description 1
First scene through the death of the Commendatora:
Leporello is among the bushes in a garden with a large balcony overlooking it. Donna Anna and Don Giovanni appear on the balcony, she in a nightgown with a partially torn robe, and he in dress pants and a disheveled white button-up shirt. They struggle. She is clearly trying to get away from him and is successful by twisting and wrenching herself away.
Donna Anna dashes across the balcony and Don Giovanni descends over the edge of the balcony. Donna Anna suddenly jolts to a stop when she realizes she needs to apprehend him. She calls out for help, runs to the edge of the balcony, and seeing that he is already almost to the ground, runs off-stage.
The Commendatora arrives in pajamas and a robe and calls out for the perpretator to stop. Don Giovanni holds up his fists as if to duel and the Commendatora follow suit. They turn in a circle, as if evaluating the other's weakness, and Don Giovanni lunges. The Commendatora kicks him in the shoulder. Don Giovanni retreats, holding his shoulder in pain and staring at the Commendatora in surprise. He fakes a stumble to the ground, then when the Commendatora approaches, he produces a knife and stabs her in a surprise attack.
Leporello is among the bushes in a garden with a large balcony overlooking it. Donna Anna and Don Giovanni appear on the balcony, she in a nightgown with a partially torn robe, and he in dress pants and a disheveled white button-up shirt. They struggle. She is clearly trying to get away from him and is successful by twisting and wrenching herself away.
Donna Anna dashes across the balcony and Don Giovanni descends over the edge of the balcony. Donna Anna suddenly jolts to a stop when she realizes she needs to apprehend him. She calls out for help, runs to the edge of the balcony, and seeing that he is already almost to the ground, runs off-stage.
The Commendatora arrives in pajamas and a robe and calls out for the perpretator to stop. Don Giovanni holds up his fists as if to duel and the Commendatora follow suit. They turn in a circle, as if evaluating the other's weakness, and Don Giovanni lunges. The Commendatora kicks him in the shoulder. Don Giovanni retreats, holding his shoulder in pain and staring at the Commendatora in surprise. He fakes a stumble to the ground, then when the Commendatora approaches, he produces a knife and stabs her in a surprise attack.
Scene Description 2
The return of the Commendatore:
The Commendatora will appear in gauzy silver through a door in the back wall. A fog machine will fill the air with fog. She will move forward, rising in the air with the aid of wires until she is settled on the balcony. Behind her, out of the fog, emerges a silent female army all dressed in various styles of white clothing. (The original plan was to have their faces and hair all painted white as well, making them faceless and uniform. However, it is more symbolic to empower women through NOT making them faceless, so we will see their individual faces.)
As the female army silently advances, Don Giovanni will visibly shudder at their closeness and aura, so he starts to back up. The fog advances with them. They continue until he is past the balcony and he is backed up against the table.
A trapdoor opens. It is not an immediate dropoff on each side, but a slanting down with a drop in the middle. Don Giovanni slips towards the dropoff, clawing at the table and then the floor to try to keep from going down. Two of the female army on the other side also start to tilt, but they are easily anchored and pulled back to safety by the hands of the other women.
Don Giovanni falls through the trap door, out of which flames erupt.
The Commendatora will appear in gauzy silver through a door in the back wall. A fog machine will fill the air with fog. She will move forward, rising in the air with the aid of wires until she is settled on the balcony. Behind her, out of the fog, emerges a silent female army all dressed in various styles of white clothing. (The original plan was to have their faces and hair all painted white as well, making them faceless and uniform. However, it is more symbolic to empower women through NOT making them faceless, so we will see their individual faces.)
As the female army silently advances, Don Giovanni will visibly shudder at their closeness and aura, so he starts to back up. The fog advances with them. They continue until he is past the balcony and he is backed up against the table.
A trapdoor opens. It is not an immediate dropoff on each side, but a slanting down with a drop in the middle. Don Giovanni slips towards the dropoff, clawing at the table and then the floor to try to keep from going down. Two of the female army on the other side also start to tilt, but they are easily anchored and pulled back to safety by the hands of the other women.
Don Giovanni falls through the trap door, out of which flames erupt.
