The Nose

A design for a major role in Shostakovich’s opera
“The Nose” by the South African artist
William Kentridge.

I did get to Shostakovich’s The Nose on Saturday. I went alone. Kelvin didn’t feel well enough to go. Charise was using Saturday afternoon to buy an outfit as her choral group was singing on Saturday night. The movie was only at Chinook, since it was the Encore and there were only a sprinkling of people there.

When the show was over and as I was leaving, I heard a woman behind me say to her friend, “I should have stayed home and watched Netflicks.”

I didn’t feel that way, ... even if the woman beside me snored quite a bit through the show.  She didn't get to a loud enough level that I felt I should poke her.

I like going to the opera. It is a place where I can see my own cohort. Those who are bored and the sleepers.  At least I see the ones of my cohort who can still get to the theatre, who like to buy popcorn and a big drink, and who want to settle down to a couple of hours of viewing on the over-sized IMAX screen. I didn’t know anyone there, other than George Melnyk, the professor who taught the Film Festival Course I took in 2009.

There was no intermission in the opera, a one hour and 50 minute straight run. The introduction was helpful, since William Kentridge was interviewed. He is the visual artist whose stunning visual and video techniques kept me entertained for the whole two hours. When the show was over I was wanting to have a reprise of the show, the second time to concentrate on the music, which is seems I barely heard since the visuals were so overwhelming.

For a New York Times review click here.

I will just be content to say it was an electric afternoon – not one for everyone but I really enjoyed it.

Here is what made me laugh:

1. The opera singer who sold bagels from 3 circles that were held together with the hoop stays of her overskirt. She knew how to flaunt her wares.
2. The man who had the energy to flip himself down from the roof and who could then sing opera.  I didn't know people over 50 could do both.
3. The fantastic costumes of the Russian soldiers – that red permanent-pleated gusset in the back of their uniforms that transforms their coats into capes. Clever.  Amazingly clever.
4. The banality of the sequence where Kovalev was trying to re-attach his nose to his face. (particularly funny was when the Dr. came in to help, though the civil servant collecting cash gave the Dr. a run for his money)
5. The nose in a rocking chair, the nose in a tutu, the nose on a horse, the nose dancing across the stage or running up a plank, the nose mincing and prancing across the stage. So much drama in the body of that paper-machined nose/head.
6. The review says that Kovalev (our protagonis) is "lost in a carnival of caricatures and grotesques". Yes. That is what made the visuals so strong that I missed the music. The colour and the style of the costumes in particular. Maybe I will hear the Shostakovich’s music the next time I go see The Nose. What I will do is just keep my eyes shut so I can concentrate on the sound.

Arta