Our Spring tour of Mozart’s beloved fairy-tale, The Magic Flute, is well and truly underway. With a new take on the composer’s classic characters, let’s take this opportunity to get to know the stars of the piece.
Tamino
In his childhood, prince Tamino would play with the young princess, Pamina, but now he rules over a large kingdom and is under attack from a monster. After he is rescued from the attack by three ladies-in-waiting, they send him on a quest under the orders of their Queen. Tamino must enter the palace of The Sun, pass three trials and prove himself worthy of Pamina, who has been kidnapped by Sarasto. However, Tamino does not face this quest alone…
Papageno
Joining Tamino on his mission is Papageno, who catches birds at the request of the Queen of the Night. Papageno, though lonely, loves his life of good food, cosiness, peace and quiet, however, when he meets Tamino, he is drawn into a cascade of adventures. While helping Tamino win the hand of Pamina, Papageno encounters Papagena and the pair realise they are perfect for each other.
Pamina
Pamina, though having spent her childhood playing with Tamino in the Night Palace, now resides with her father, Sarastro in the palace of the Sun after being kidnapped. Pamina longs to return home to the Night and tries to flee with Papageno, but, wanting her to make an informed decision about where she will live, her father insists she stays.
Sarastro
Sarastro once lived in harmony with the Queen of the Night, however, as their daughter Pamina grew, the couple disagreed on how she should be brought up. Sarastro wanted his daughter to live by the sun and rely on reason and logic. The Queen was not happy about this and stole the child away into the Night. The King, having been denied access to his daughter, kidnapped her and brought her to the palace of the Sun where he had Monostatos teach her the ways of the Daytime.
The Queen of the Night
Living in a world of imagination and creativity, The Queen of the Night is distraught when the King kidnaps his daughter from her, though she had done the same to him years prior. The Queen sends her three ladies to recruit Tamino and send him on a quest to rescue Pamina and win her hand in marriage. Tamino begins to learn the ways of the Daytime, which angers the Queen and forces her way into the palace of the Sun, where she and the King come face to face. With their daughter wanting to please both parents, the pair admit that things were better before they split the Day and Night and allow Pamina and Tamino to forge realms of their own, having the best of both worlds; Dawn and Twilight.
You can still catch our “thoroughly enjoyable” (Facebook) production ofThe Magic Flute on tour in Milton Keynes, Bristol, Birmingham, Southampton and Plymouth.