Opera
The Marriage of Figaro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
One room, one day, four people who cannot stop lying, and the best final twenty minutes anyone has written.
Libretto Lorenzo da Ponte, after BeaumarchaisSung in ItalianSurtitles EnglishRunning time 3h 20mIntervals OneFirst performed 1786
Synopsis
Act I
An unfurnished room, measured for a bed. The measuring is the argument.
Act II
The Countess's bedroom, a locked closet, and three separate people hiding badly.
Act III
A letter sealed with a pin, and a trial that resolves the wrong question.
Act IV
The garden at night. Everyone is wearing someone else's clothes, and the only honest line of the evening is an apology.
❦
Played in a single set that revolves once per act, so the house watches the same rooms from the servants’ side and then from the family’s. Nothing is cut. The fourth act runs in near darkness, lit by what the characters are carrying.