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Contact: Chery! Minns, Arts Editor
Marts@theotherpress.ca

www. theotherpress.ca

 

Opera on a budget

» A look at the Vancouver Opera's Carmen

Brittney MacDonald
Staff Writer

Comer is the classic
operatic love story of a man
sacrificing everything for the
woman he adores, based on the

fortunate to see the Vancouver
Opera’s rendition of this
production.

Don Jose, played by tenors

Magiera, is a corporal of
dragoons in the Spanish army.
He falls madly in love with the
dangerous but beautiful gypsy
woman, Carmen, played by
mezzo sopranos Ginger Costa-
Jackson and Kate Aldrich, in
her last performance for the
Vancouver Opera.

The couple meet only once
before Don Jose is ordered to
take Carmen to prison after
she attacks and mutilates a co-
worker in a tobacco factory. But
having fallen madly in love (or
maybe it’s lust) with her, he is
convinced to release her, and
that they will then be together.
Don Jose does so and lands
himself in prison for aiding her
escape.

the decision to court Carmen,
but her jealousy over his
devotion to his work forces him
to desert the army in order to

: satisfy her demands. Ashamed

: and now publicly wanted for

: his desertion, Don Jose follows

: Carmen’s travelling band of

gypsies until his own jealousy

: of her rather promiscuous

lifestyle puts a strain on their

novel by Prosper Mérimée. I was relationship, and Carmen's eye
: begins to wander. :

: Director Joel Ivany deviated :

: from the traditional tale by

resetting the plot in the 1930s

Richard Troxell and Christopher : instead of the 1800s. This has
: very little effect on the overall

narrative, except that instead

of the persecution of the

: church we can only assume

: that Carmen’s gypsy band is

: attempting to avoid the Nazis.

: It’s never specifically stated why

: the gypsies and Don Jose have to :

travel in secrecy.

Though it may not detract

: from the actual story, the new
: setting does remove the need for :

: elaborate costumes, which wasa : 8* the promotional code, which

: bit of adisappointment. Usually : YOU enter before you purchase
: Carmen features a plethora of
: traje de flamenca, the traditional :
: costume of female flamenco
: dancers, but with the opera
: reset the dresses are more

: understated.

Performed in its original

: French, the Queen Elizabeth
When he gets out, he makes : Q .

: Theatre offers a scrolling screen
: of subtitles so the audience can
: enjoy the show, but not miss out :

: on any of the numerous jokes

Director Joel Ivany
deviated from the
traditional tale by
resetting the plot in
the 1930s instead of
the 1800s.

: or epic fights between Carmen
: and Don Jose, or Carmen and

: Lieutenant Zuniga, or Carmen
: and pretty much everybody.

Another great feature,

: especially for students, is the

: Vancouver Opera's Get O.U.T.

: discount program to help entice

: a younger audience. A select

: number of seats are set aside and
: available for $35 each for anyone

: under 35 years of age. The catch

: is that you have to follow their

: Facebook, Twitter, or the official

: Vancouver Opera blog in order to

: the tickets online. Keep in mind
: the Get O.U.T. tickets are limited,
: so it’s best to buy early.

Overall the production still

had all the amazing music and
: romance, despite the change

: in scenery. It was definitely a

: production worth seeing, and I
: look forward to more from the
: Vancouver Opera’s upcoming

: season, especially now that I

: know I don't have to break the

* bank to afford it.

 

Chairman of the Board:

» ‘Arkham Horror’ game review

Ed Appleby

» illustrator

8 Millustrator
@theotherpress.ca

 

his October, I’m going to

be taking a look at a series
of darker themed games. This
week we go absolutely crazy
with a fun yet maddening
game—in more ways than one.

Arkham Horror isa
thematic board game for one
to eight players designed by
Richard Launius in 2005 and
published by Fantasy Flight
Games. The game takes place
in the Lovecraftian town of
Arkham, where elder gods and
darker things stalk the foggy
alleys and dark corners.

Players work together

in this game to solve the

; mysteries that Arkham holds

: by locating artifacts, sealing

: denominational gates, traveling
: to other worlds, and eventually
: doing battle with the elder gods
: themselves. As anyone who

: has ever read H.P. Lovecraft or

: purchased a Cthulhu plushie

: knows, sanity plays a huge part
: in this universe. You utilize your :
: character’s skills to defeat the
: encroaching darkness and do

: your best not to end up in the
: hospital or the mental asylum.

Those unfamiliar with the

: pen-and-paper style of role-

: playing games will most likely

: be overwhelmed by the shear

: volume of information that

: you need to manage during the
: game. The game box estimates

: the game to take four hours to
: play, though in my experience
: the game is more likely to

: take six to eight hours. Also,

: most of that gameplay is spent
: trying to prevent the elder god
: from awakening, which rarely

: succeeds, and after which you

: engage in a climactic battle

: with the elder gods. At that

: point, the whole game takes

ona different mechanic, which

: makes you wonder why you've
: been playing for half the day.

If you love complex

: storytelling and have several

: hours to kill, Arkham Horror

: is great and complex, which

: makes it a good game to play

: ona foggy Saturday afternoon.
: But it is definitely more of an

: expert-level game and not for

: the faint of heart.