In a modern “Così fan tutte,” love and fidelity is put to the test

Cahn Auditorium has been the site of many dramas over the years. However, there hasn’t been one like Northwestern University Opera Theater is staging this week — a classic opera with all its twists and turns but told through the lens of a reality television show. 

Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” premiered in Vienna in 1790. The 18th century story involves a wager between two friends, Ferrando and Guglielmo, and the cynical Don Alfonso — who is confident he can prove to the young men that their fiancées, Dorabella and Fiordiligi, are fickle. Ferrando and Guglielmo pretend to have been called off to war, then return in disguise — each attempting to woo the other’s fiancée in a zany test of their fidelity. 

For its Northwestern debut, the Bienen School’s Joachim Schamberger transformed the tale into a modern-day television reality show titled “Finding Amore.” Schamberger, the director of the production, describes the cast of characters, including Don Alfonso — the reality show’s producer — participants Ferrando and Guglielmo, and the unwitting contestants, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. 

“The heightened emotional environment of being on reality television fits the sometimes-absurd comedy of the opera, as well as its more serious aspects,” Schamberger says. 

“When the men test their new-found fiancées’ fidelity without their knowledge, we see the voyeuristic side of reality TV.” 

Schamberger reveals the reality show experience ultimately impacts the characters’ friendships and relationships in expected and unexpected ways. To further create the feel of a live reality show, Cahn’s stage will have a large LED wall background with projections from live studio cameras. 

Conductor Benjamin Manis leads the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra in supporting the onstage action with Mozart’s timeless music for this production of “Così fan tutte.”

The opera, which runs from Thursday, May 23 through Sunday, May 26, will be performed in Italian with English supertitles.