Together until the end

This reinterpretation of Béla Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle paints an intimate and deeply affectionate portrait of an elderly couple affected by dementia. The exceptional production brings world-class soloists Susan Bullock and Michael Mayes within just metres of the audience, creating an electrifying atmosphere.

A man called Bluebeard brings his wife, Judith, home. In their living room, an immense crate holds the cherished memories they have gathered over decades. Time and again, Judith asks her husband to open it, and as he does, their memories spill out; a wedding, a child, a shared life.

But now, dementia is taking hold of Judith. She gradually slips away from Bluebeard, leaving him alone with the remnants of their life together.

Duke Bluebeard’s Castle is a profound love story that evokes both joy and sorrow. The opera invites us to reflect on the fragility of memory and the enduring power of love, lingering in the mind long after the final note has faded.

This production of Duke Bluebeard’s Castle is by Theatre of Sound.

“Devastating power” – The Guardian

“Suberb” – The Observer

Béla Bartók’s only opera

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Synopsis

Bluebeard brings his wife, Judith, home. “Is this really Bluebeard’s Castle?” she asks, looking around the suburban hallway.

Instead of ominous doors, a locked trunk sits in the living room. Judith pleads for it to be opened, again and again. When it finally is, memories spill out: a wedding, a child, a family.

This castle is not a dark, airless dungeon but a happy home where Judith and Bluebeard have shared their most cherished moments.

Now, however, Judith is living with dementia. She begins to slip away from Bluebeard, leaving him alone with the fragments of their life together.

This Bluebeard is a love story.

Conductor Stevie Higgins tells

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