Elena Mendoza and Matthias Rebstock’s La ciudad de las mentiras: Fiction as polyphony

Abstract

This study discusses the creative process of La ciudad de las mentiras (City of Lies), music theatre co-authored by the composer Elena Mendoza and the stage director Matthias Rebstock. In 2017, Gerard Mortier commissioned City of Liesas the first work of music theatre that the Teatro Real in Madrid would premiere in its 200-year history. From the differentiation between opera and music theatre, my research analyzes the City of Lies’ narrative principles, which is based on four stories by the Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti (1909–1994). In particular, I focus on La novia robada(The Stolen Bride). This story leads me to a discussion about experimenting with narrative processes on the idea of polyphony. Based on this exploration, my proposal sheds light on the diversity of working methods and highlights aspects related to the production systems of opera houses that condition the authors’ conception of music theatre. I aim to examine Mendoza and Rebstock’s multidisciplinary collaboration and their artistic practices that affect co-presence and corporeality with two female instrumentalists in the main roles and an ensemble on the stage together with actors and singers leading both the dramatic and musical actions. This approach reflects on a precise set design that entails non-hierarchical performances and improvisation scenes. The theoretical framework that supports this analysis refers to the terminology for “Composed theatre” investigated by Matthias Rebstock and David Roesner. Therefore, I address both performative and creative processes and production conditions that challenge music theatre creation in the current context of the Teatro Real.