The Metropolitan Opera's Production of WOZZECK Comes to the Big Screen in HD at The Ridgefield Playhouse

Peter Mattei makes his role debut as Wozzeck opposite Elza van den Heever as Marie, the mother of his child in William Kentridge's new production of Alban Berg's expressionistic masterpiece Wozzeck for The Metropolitan Opera. Regarded for its intense emotional power and brilliant score Wozzeck is one of the most significant operas of the 20th century. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Wozzeck comes to The Ridgefield Playhouse on the big screen in HD on Sunday, January 12th at 12:55pm, part of the Classical Series underwritten by Jeanne Cook, Liz & Steven Goldstone, and Sabina & Walter Slavin, with support from Whistle Stop Bakery.

Composed during and in the aftermath of World War I, Berg's dark exploration of a soldier besieged by the evils of society, is staged by Kentridge in a ramshackle warren of stairs, ramps, discarded furniture, and debris. His own theatrically animated charcoal drawings, along with other projected drawings, maps, and film clips, evoke a nightmarish world of crashed planes, searchlights, ghostly gas masks, and battlefields. Singing the roles of Wozzeck's tormentors are Christopher Ventris as the Drum-Major, Gerhard Siegel as the Captain, and Christian Van Horn as the Doctor. Andrew Staples makes his Met debut as Andres. Kentridge, who previously directed Berg's Lulu and Shostakovich's The Nose at the Met, unveiled the new production at the 2017 Salzburg Festival, where it received critical acclaim. Kentridge's production is a co-production of the Met, Canadian Opera Company, Opera Australia, and Salzburg Festival.

The Metropolitan Opera is a vibrant home for the most creative and talented singers, conductors, composers, musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers from around the world. The Ridgefield Playhouse offers free tickets to The Metropolitan Opera in HD series to students 18 and younger as a way for parents to introduce their children to the arts. FREE tickets are also available to students 18 and younger for live and encore HD screenings of The Bolshoi Ballet and National Theatre of London.

For tickets ($25 | Members & Seniors $20 | Students $15 | FREE for students 18 and under) call or visit the box office, 203-438-5795 or go online at ridgefieldplayhouse.org. The Ridgefield Playhouse is a non-profit performing arts center located at 80 East Ridge, parallel to Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.