03/14/2011

Rebecca Prescott's Thoughts on Papagena in The Magic Flute

Papagena Papagena is the quintessential commedia dell arte comedienne character.  First,  the comedienne’s name is the feminization of her male counterpart’s name.  Second, the comedienne is dressed in the same style as her counterpart.  In our current production I am dressed as a badminton player (get it? Badminton plays with a ‘birdie’ and Papageno is a ‘bird catcher’,) that is the same color scheme as Papageno and same hat.  The only difference is that I am dressed in a skirt, since I am the girl.  And finally in the commedia tradition, the male clown is not too bright whereas the female is the bright one out of the two. 

It is typical commedia storyline for the male clown to be on a constant prowl for his female counterpart.  In Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Papageno is motivated throughout the entire opera to find and wed a sweet little wife.  During his quest, Papageno is promised that his Papagena will come to him, only upon completion of a series of tasks and one of those tasks is to not say a word to anyone.  Of course, since he isn’t the brightest character in the acting canon, he can’t keep quiet.  Papagena, being the brighter of the two, is able to manipulate Papageno, beat the system, and end up happily together.  

In conclusion, I am impressed with how brilliantly Mozart wrote the characters in the The Magic Flute so consistently within the commedia tradition in creating the three main stock character roles: servant, master, and innamorati.  And it is a joy that under Aaron Hunts’s direction and understanding of commedia style, I can play Papagena in the commedia tradition with a modern twist. 

Rebecca will be playing Papagena in Verismo's upcoming production of Mozart's, The Magic Flute. Learn more: http://www.verismooperaclub.org

Rprescott_profile Rebecca Prescott, a rancher’s daughter from Jerome, Idaho, is a Master of Music graduate of Roosevelt University, where she studied with Richard Stilwell. Onstage she has played Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello, The Governess in The Turn of the Screw, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado. Ms. Prescott just completed the North American Tour of the Broadway Musical How the Grinch Stole Christmas, playing and singing Grandma Who.

Mar 14, 2011 5:13:47 PM

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