The Magic Flute at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

Mozart's instantly captivating music meets a fantastic universe of beautiful princesses, strange creatures, magical music, wonderful humour, conjuring and mischief in Alexander Mørk-Eidem's new version of The Magic Flute.

Director Mørk-Eidem calls The Magic Flute «the first musical». His previous successes include Peer Gynt at the National Theatre of Norway in autumn 2014 and The Three Musketeersat the Oslo Folketeateret in the spring of 2015.

Mozart himself referred to his final opera as a musical opera. It was performed in German, the composer's mother tongue, in order to reach a popular audience, with singers and actors side by side on the stage. The librettist and comic Emanuel Schikaneder took on the role of Papageno himself. In our production (sung in Norwegian), Atle Antonsen plays the bird-catcher – an ugly creature with little intellect but a large appetite: «I am the bird-catcher, always happy, hi-di hey hey!»

Papageno becomes a slightly unwilling companion to Tamino – the hero of the story – who has landed on a strange planet in a galaxy far, far away. Tamino is tasked by the Queen of the Night with finding her daughter, Pamina. She is being held prisoner underground, where the men of the planet are entrenched. These include her father, Sarastro. Thus our new The Magic Flute becomes a divorce drama in space. With the help of Papageno and a flute with magical powers, Tamino sets out on a perilous but eventful journey.

The fantastic cast for this autumn's family production includes Mari Eriksmoen, Eir Inderhaug and Silvia Moi.