Coraline

What child doesn’t sometimes dream of discovering a hidden door behind which a magical, completely different world is revealed? Coraline Jones has just moved into an old, mysterious house with her parents. Mother and Father Jones are very busy and hardly have any time for their daughter. A bored Coraline starts to explore her new home. First, she meets her neighbours, who are quirky, to say the least: Mr Bobo conducts a chaotic orchestra of mice, which he has perform for Coraline. Two aging divas predict the girl’s future in her tea leaves – and warn her of great danger! Coraline then discovers a mysterious door, musters all her courage, and crawls through it. At first glance, the otherworld in which she ends up seems very familiar: in fact, everything is just as it is at home, except that Coraline’s parents are suddenly terribly nice, cook delicious meals and are prepared to fulfil her every wish. There is one condition, however: to stay here for ever, Coraline would have to swap her eyes for two buttons…

The family opera by British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage is based on the eponymous story by Neil Gaiman, of which there is already a very successful film version. It tells the story of a courageous young girl whose unusual name shows that everything is not always as it seems. Coraline’s fantastical and sinister experiences are reminiscent of literary classics such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland or E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Sandman, yet tell a very modern coming-of-age story: faced with her seductive “other” parents, Coraline has to recognise that in a world in which every wish comes true she would lose not only her eyes, but also her ego. Nina Russi, who most recently staged Die Gänsemagd and Gold! for children at Zurich Opera House, will be directing, with Ann-Katrin Stöcker at the rostrum.