"The Love of 3 Oranges" is a play written in 1919 by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Prokofiev's other works include the ballet music for Peter and the Wolf and Romeo and Juliet. I attended the play on both Thursday and Friday, as I was a Front of House member.
The plot of the play revolves around Prince Tartaglia, who is the son of the King of Hearts. The play begins with the two narrators. Both of them have different outlooks on the play; one of them is very lively and comedic where as the other one is more realistic and sensible. They introduce the play. The King of Hearts is worried for his kingdom as he is growing old and needs someone to step up to his position. His niece, Clarice, is empty-headed and does not have the mental capacity to have such power and to put it to good use. His son, Prince Tartaglia, on the other hand is extremely ill and morose. But, the King suddenly remembers that a doctor once told him that the only way to cure his son is by making him laugh. Aroused at this uncovering, the King orders his PA Pantolone to create and prepare for a massive ball full of elements of entertainment. Leandro, who is the first minister, enters the scene and tries his utmost best to discourage the King from carrying through with his procession, as he wants to marry Clarice and become King instead. Leandro fails to convince him. The celebrations begin and are introduced by the jester Truffaldino. A series of activities take place to achieve laughter from the sick Prince, but nothing seems to work. Fata Morgana (dun dun dun), the evil wiatch, tries to assist Leandro by attending the ball. Her aim is to not make Prince Tartaglia laugh, and she thinks that is possible if she is around because of her sinister personality. The witch disguises herself, but is revealed when the courtiers are playing a friendly game of twister. Truffaldino starts chasing Fata Morgana and she falls. That right there is what it took to make the Prince laugh- hysterically. The witch gets furious and curses Tartaglia, the curse being the love of three oranges (hence, the title of the play). Prince Tartaglia's sick days are over and he is desperate to find his oranges. He takes Truffaldino with him on this adventure. The King of Hearts is extremely upset; even though his son is not ill anymore, he has abandoned his castle. A new character is introduced- the magician Celio, who was previously one of the narrators. She contacts a dark creature known as Farfarello. Celio finds out that Prince Tartaglia and Truffaldino are going to Creonti's castle, as that is where the oranges are. The Prince finds and steals his oranges and leaves the eerie castle. Truffaldino and him have to roam through a desert to get back home. The jester cuts open one of the oranges and a Princess pops out. She is very weak and thirsty, and sine Truffaldino is indeed a clown and clowns can be rather foolish, she does not notice that there is a huge lake of water behind her. Eventually, orange #1 dies. Then, orange #2 dies because of the same reason. The Prince wakes up and realises only one orange is left. He cuts it open and finds Princess Ninetta. She is thirsty as well and he notices the lake of water because the signboard hints to him. They decide that they want to get married. Fata Morgana kidnaps the princess with the help of her coworkers. Smeraldina, who is one of the coworkers, wants to become queen as well- just like Clarice. As Princess Ninetta is kidnapped, Smeraldina goes to the King of Hearts' castle, where Prince Tartaglia is giving his father the good news. But, instead of Princess Ninetta entering the scene, Smeraldina enters and acts as if she was the one that he proposed to. The Prince tries to deny this statement but the King of Hearts says that a royal promise, is a royal promise. Prince Tartaglia was confused and stunned at the same time. I did not quite understand what happened after this, but at the end, Prince Tartaglia gets married to Princess Ninetta, the King of Hearts is happy, Leandro, Clarice, and Smeraldina are punished for their treacherous behaviour, and Fata Morgana and Celio have a dual to the death.
The production was mainly composed of girl actors, but that did not affect the overall story or characterizations at all. The females that were playing male roles fitted in very well and it was believable that they were boys for the most part. Personally speaking, I feel that the role of Prince Tartaglia, Truffaldino, and Fata Morgana were played extremely well as they were full of energy and their actions depicted the nature of their character. For example, Fata Morgana walked a bit slow, which emphasized on her creepy, slyness. Her makeup was also very effective as the green eye shadow made her look more like a witch. The way Prince Tartaglia portrayed her illness was very believable because it was loud, and the sounds matched her body language. Although her voice was feminine, her costume made her seem masculine, along with her acting skills. Truffaldino's performance was outstanding. The amount of energy she used really added to her silly character. Her costume was very bright and colourful, which attracted my attention. The use of backdrops to display the different locations in the various scenes was clever as not much of the props on stage had to alternate to get the location across. The use of the ramps were advantageous as they were used for different reasons in several of the scenes (for example, the "Lake of Much Water" was behind it). The throne for the King of Hearts was also very convincing. The backstage crew did not take much time to transition betweens scenes, which kept the audience engaged. The smoke machine was extremely cool and some of the scenes would not have the same effect without it. The directing aspect of the play is not really visible to an audience member, as we were not there during the rehearsals of the production, and did not visually see the director's role. However, based on the fluidity of the play, I would have to say that it was directed very well and that the cast and backstage members knew what they were doing. Overall, I was quite entertained in certain sections of the play, but lost interest in other ones. For example, I found the scene at Creonti's castle entertaining, but I did not find the ball/celebration/festival entertaining. The one skill that was highly noticeable throughout the performance was the level of projection that the characters utilized. As this was an acoustic sort of performance, no one used any microphones, except for one singing scene with Truffaldino. The characters were all very loud and easy to hear, which aided the overall perception for the audience. The articulation- especially by Prince Tartaglia, the King of Hearts, and by Fata Morgana- was excellent.
The plot of the play revolves around Prince Tartaglia, who is the son of the King of Hearts. The play begins with the two narrators. Both of them have different outlooks on the play; one of them is very lively and comedic where as the other one is more realistic and sensible. They introduce the play. The King of Hearts is worried for his kingdom as he is growing old and needs someone to step up to his position. His niece, Clarice, is empty-headed and does not have the mental capacity to have such power and to put it to good use. His son, Prince Tartaglia, on the other hand is extremely ill and morose. But, the King suddenly remembers that a doctor once told him that the only way to cure his son is by making him laugh. Aroused at this uncovering, the King orders his PA Pantolone to create and prepare for a massive ball full of elements of entertainment. Leandro, who is the first minister, enters the scene and tries his utmost best to discourage the King from carrying through with his procession, as he wants to marry Clarice and become King instead. Leandro fails to convince him. The celebrations begin and are introduced by the jester Truffaldino. A series of activities take place to achieve laughter from the sick Prince, but nothing seems to work. Fata Morgana (dun dun dun), the evil wiatch, tries to assist Leandro by attending the ball. Her aim is to not make Prince Tartaglia laugh, and she thinks that is possible if she is around because of her sinister personality. The witch disguises herself, but is revealed when the courtiers are playing a friendly game of twister. Truffaldino starts chasing Fata Morgana and she falls. That right there is what it took to make the Prince laugh- hysterically. The witch gets furious and curses Tartaglia, the curse being the love of three oranges (hence, the title of the play). Prince Tartaglia's sick days are over and he is desperate to find his oranges. He takes Truffaldino with him on this adventure. The King of Hearts is extremely upset; even though his son is not ill anymore, he has abandoned his castle. A new character is introduced- the magician Celio, who was previously one of the narrators. She contacts a dark creature known as Farfarello. Celio finds out that Prince Tartaglia and Truffaldino are going to Creonti's castle, as that is where the oranges are. The Prince finds and steals his oranges and leaves the eerie castle. Truffaldino and him have to roam through a desert to get back home. The jester cuts open one of the oranges and a Princess pops out. She is very weak and thirsty, and sine Truffaldino is indeed a clown and clowns can be rather foolish, she does not notice that there is a huge lake of water behind her. Eventually, orange #1 dies. Then, orange #2 dies because of the same reason. The Prince wakes up and realises only one orange is left. He cuts it open and finds Princess Ninetta. She is thirsty as well and he notices the lake of water because the signboard hints to him. They decide that they want to get married. Fata Morgana kidnaps the princess with the help of her coworkers. Smeraldina, who is one of the coworkers, wants to become queen as well- just like Clarice. As Princess Ninetta is kidnapped, Smeraldina goes to the King of Hearts' castle, where Prince Tartaglia is giving his father the good news. But, instead of Princess Ninetta entering the scene, Smeraldina enters and acts as if she was the one that he proposed to. The Prince tries to deny this statement but the King of Hearts says that a royal promise, is a royal promise. Prince Tartaglia was confused and stunned at the same time. I did not quite understand what happened after this, but at the end, Prince Tartaglia gets married to Princess Ninetta, the King of Hearts is happy, Leandro, Clarice, and Smeraldina are punished for their treacherous behaviour, and Fata Morgana and Celio have a dual to the death.
The production was mainly composed of girl actors, but that did not affect the overall story or characterizations at all. The females that were playing male roles fitted in very well and it was believable that they were boys for the most part. Personally speaking, I feel that the role of Prince Tartaglia, Truffaldino, and Fata Morgana were played extremely well as they were full of energy and their actions depicted the nature of their character. For example, Fata Morgana walked a bit slow, which emphasized on her creepy, slyness. Her makeup was also very effective as the green eye shadow made her look more like a witch. The way Prince Tartaglia portrayed her illness was very believable because it was loud, and the sounds matched her body language. Although her voice was feminine, her costume made her seem masculine, along with her acting skills. Truffaldino's performance was outstanding. The amount of energy she used really added to her silly character. Her costume was very bright and colourful, which attracted my attention. The use of backdrops to display the different locations in the various scenes was clever as not much of the props on stage had to alternate to get the location across. The use of the ramps were advantageous as they were used for different reasons in several of the scenes (for example, the "Lake of Much Water" was behind it). The throne for the King of Hearts was also very convincing. The backstage crew did not take much time to transition betweens scenes, which kept the audience engaged. The smoke machine was extremely cool and some of the scenes would not have the same effect without it. The directing aspect of the play is not really visible to an audience member, as we were not there during the rehearsals of the production, and did not visually see the director's role. However, based on the fluidity of the play, I would have to say that it was directed very well and that the cast and backstage members knew what they were doing. Overall, I was quite entertained in certain sections of the play, but lost interest in other ones. For example, I found the scene at Creonti's castle entertaining, but I did not find the ball/celebration/festival entertaining. The one skill that was highly noticeable throughout the performance was the level of projection that the characters utilized. As this was an acoustic sort of performance, no one used any microphones, except for one singing scene with Truffaldino. The characters were all very loud and easy to hear, which aided the overall perception for the audience. The articulation- especially by Prince Tartaglia, the King of Hearts, and by Fata Morgana- was excellent.
The technical elements of the play had many positives and negatives during the performance. Firstly, the elements include: the set design, the costumes, the props, sound design, and light design. As I mentioned previously, the backdrops were smartly invented as it showed you the location of the different scenes without having to change around many props. The ramp served many purposes, which made it helpful for the overall production. The costumes were designed and worn very well, as they suited the character's qualities. I would like to emphasise the costumes worn by Fata Morgana and Farfarello. They looked really great and wavy, which grabbed my attention. The colours of these costumes also complemented each other very well (e.g. green and black). Truffaldino's costume suited her character the most because just by looking at her, you can make the assumption that she is a jolly jester. The three oranges did indeed look like three oranges because of their round, orange, net costumes. There were not too many props used, but that made the production simpler and better. Using the black trees for the eerie, forest scenes was an excellent idea, especially when the backstage members were swaying them around with the smoke machine going off in the back. The prop that the narrator/Celio was using made her seem both powerful and weak at the same time, and I think that it looks like it has an element of magic. Using the vessel for the Prince to throw up in was a good idea, and is more effective than him throwing up in the sink or on top of the floor. As I have mentioned earlier, I think the scenes transitioned very well as the backstage crew was efficient and the cast members came on stage at an appropriate rate. If the scene required changes in props, it was done quite efficiently. The lighting was done excellently and on time, as I did not notice any mistakes or hinderances. The spotlight was clear each time and I think the lighting crew did a very hard working, and highly rewarding task as a whole. They did not get distracted and focused on making the performance as good as it could possible be. However, the main weakness of the production comes down to the execution of the sound cues. Although they were accurate most of the time, they were usually played either too late, or too early. For example, during Thursday's performance, Fata Morgana's signature "dun dun dun" sound was either played too late or too early, and she actually kind of scolded the sound manager, which added to the humour. The sound timings improved during the performance on Friday.
Overall, I think the play was produced well and I enjoyed some bits and pieces more than others. I liked the scenes that included Fata Morgana the best because her character just has some vibe to it that I really seem to enjoy. I also liked when Truffaldino interacted with the audience by running around us and throwing a chicken to a member. Prince Tartaglia's acting during his illness was also very enjoyable. If I could change the performance, I would change the ball/celebration scene, because I felt that it did not seem as entertaining as it was meant to be for the story. I would make the horse fight more dramatic and realistic by actually using stage combat and other dramatic elements. The twister could have also been more big scaled and more wild (i.e. wild positions). I expected the show to be a bit worse than I thought, because my first impression of the title of the play was really unusual and I was completely unsure of what the story would unravel.
Overall, I think the play was produced well and I enjoyed some bits and pieces more than others. I liked the scenes that included Fata Morgana the best because her character just has some vibe to it that I really seem to enjoy. I also liked when Truffaldino interacted with the audience by running around us and throwing a chicken to a member. Prince Tartaglia's acting during his illness was also very enjoyable. If I could change the performance, I would change the ball/celebration scene, because I felt that it did not seem as entertaining as it was meant to be for the story. I would make the horse fight more dramatic and realistic by actually using stage combat and other dramatic elements. The twister could have also been more big scaled and more wild (i.e. wild positions). I expected the show to be a bit worse than I thought, because my first impression of the title of the play was really unusual and I was completely unsure of what the story would unravel.
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