January issue of Estonian magazine Teater.Muusika.Kino brings the second part of an article by Madis Nurms about color stereotypes. The piece explores the conventions of using color in the contemporary productions of romantic operas. Namely the tendencies of costume designers to pair certain colors with particular roles.

Could the presence of these stereotypes in the contemporary productions of nineteenth century opera be proven by using statistical data? And if so, can costume designers derive from them without damaging the audience’s perception of characters or the narrative of the opera? Can the playful nature of Regietheater be expanded onto the field of costume design – can the designers really get away with experimenting with color?

In the October issue of Estonian magazine Teater.Muusika.Kino an article by Madis Nurms about color stereotypes can be found.  The article looks into the color conventions in representing the popular characters in the contemporary productions of nineteenth century opera. In other words: the tendencies of costume designers to pair certain colors with particular roles.

In the March issue of Estonian magazine Teater.Muusika.Kino an article by Madis Nurms about blackface makeup and it’s usage in opera can be found. Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person. By the mid-20th century, changing attitudes about race and racism effectively ended the prominence of blackface makeup used in performance in theatre.  One major exception is opera where blackface is still today widely regarded as normal and acceptable.

Contemporary scenographer can approach the usage of black makeup in operas like “Aida” and “Otello” in basically three different ways:  a) use it in decorative fashion - see it separated  from it’s social context and historical background  b ) in declaratory way  - using it to stress the issues of race and racism ( a la Hans Neuenfels ) or c ) to abandon its use altogether.

Full article (in Estonian) can be read HERE >>

Read the second part of the article by Madis Nurms about nakedness and its reception in opera productions. The article was published in the magazine Teater.Muusika.Kino and is in Estonian. The first part of the article was published in the December, second in the February issue.

Read the short overview of the masters thesis of Madis Nurms