Interview: Roxana Haines

With a score by Russian arch-modernist Stravinsky, a libretto by French surrealist Jean Cocteau and based on the script by Sophocles, who inspired Aristotle and Freud, Oedipus Rex is an opera that seems to epitomise the European tradition of dead white males and canonical art. Yet Scottish Opera is taking a refreshing approach, with a community chorus tackling the Latin text, the use of an unconventional venue in the National Museum and a director, Roxana Haines, who recognises the intimate and therapeutical potential of performance.

"I think catharsis is the reason we go to the theatre, seeing ourselves on stage and experiencing a feeling of relief," says Haines. As a student of therapeutic performance, she combines an enthusiasm for the traditional beauty of opera and a recognition of its potential for an intimate experience that is emotionally rich. "It is in the moment at the end of the show, just before the applause. Having escaped into the opera, we are pulled back to reality." 

Haines clearly takes the purpose of a particular production seriously: Oedipus Rex could easily be justified on the grounds of its canonical importance, but "I try not to ignore the question: why this opera now?" she continues. "The lives of Cocteau and Stravinsky gave me an answer. I scoured their lives. Cocteau lost his father to suicide at nine – and we see this in Jocasta’s fate and across the Theban cycle: all of the characters take their own lives. And the theme of exile, which I dare say Stravinsky might have felt, and this is bedrock of how we tell the story."

By finding the relevance of the opera, Haines is able to pursue a vision that makes the art-form accessible without losing its unique characteristics. "We will give the audience what they want and expect," she admits, but she finds that "Cocteau gives us an out" through surrealism. "Much of the set is fuchsia pink to contrast with the beauty of the atrium space," she comments with another laugh. 

Recognising that the combination of Latin text, the tricksiness of Stravinsky’s score and the majesty of the museum itself, Haines reflects on the challenges of this production. "It is an ancient Greek play, translated into Latin and performed in a Museum. There are barriers, some people may feel like they can’t come, and I think it is important to talk about this. We have been really trying to think about how we make these things accessible," Haines says. "But I lean into the saving grace that surrealism gives us. I think you need it with ancient Greek tragedies: people can get caught in the depth of them – of course, there is drama, it is about catharsis, but I also think that there are moments of reality and humour, even in the midst of trauma and conflict."

Haines passion for opera is matched by a determination that it speaks to the modern audience. Noting that this will be the first time that the opera will be performed with female members of the chorus, she was encouraged to consider how the role of Jocasta could be reconsidered when surrounded by female voices. "I don’t feel I can tell a story where the only ending is a woman commits suicide because of the systems' pressure upon her," she muses. 

And despite the weight of history, of the Western traditional and the internal pressures placed upon the characters, Haines’ vision encourages her to discover a new freedom in spite of the source play’s obsession with fatalism and inevitability. "I am playing with the ending," she reveals, "giving Jocasta a choice."