Stage Director Christina Jensen talks about Lucia di Lammermoor

Nothing screams “romantic post-Valentine's Day atmosphere,” than a mad soprano, a bully baritone, and a tragically dead tenor. In fact, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor is as infamously known for its horror film plot line as much as it's recognized for its insanely difficult musical passages.

However, in this production, IOC's cast will focus on the human story behind the grizzly melodrama. Star-crossed lovers, Lucia Ashton and Edgardo di Ravenswood, are caught in the middle of a bloody post-Elizabethan war where individual lives are just the tipping point of consequences. Family honor, feudal duty, clan protection, and the very nature of Scotland's freedom are also amongst the myriad of reasons why Ashtons do not intermarry with their political rivals, the Ravenswood clan.

To visually display the enormity of their decision to cast aside Lammermoor's mores and fall in love, Lucia weaves a brand-new tartan, combining the traditional colors of both the Ashtons and the Ravenswoods. She presents this symbol of peace and hope to Edgardo as they exchange vows of engagement before he leaves for France. As a silent almost living character, the new tartan journeys throughout the opera, touching every extreme emotion on display. Edgardo brutally and publicly shreds it at Lucia's forced wedding to Arturo Bucklaw. It is cruelly returned to Edgardo via Henry's desperate attempt at revenge when he challenges Edgardo. Finally, the tartan – though ultimately tattered and bruised – is returned to Lucia, its rightful owner, as Edgardo places it over her lifeless body as her funeral shroud. Though these two families had been locked in mortal battle for generations, the tartan symbolically demonstrates the great price of such vengeful hatred.

Tickets available HERE