No Mad Is Me / Giovanni Brand / Dox - Carmen (must die)

In CARMEN (must die), Brand confronts the most famous opera in the world: Carmen by Georges Bizet. For a century and a half, this story has been applauded. But who told it? And who paid the price? 

With humor, musical fire, and relentless sharpness, Brand breaks open the romantic cliché of the fiery, dangerous, and unpredictable anti-Roma opera Carmen.  

We follow Dimitri, the first Roma actor to play Carmen. During rehearsals, he discovers that he is not just playing a role, but is trapped himself in the stereotype that has been repeated for generations. What begins as a rehearsal derails into a fast-paced, physical, and hilarious tour de force. 

With singing, flamenco, and acting, Dimitri wages a battle that simultaneously pokes fun at and sharply addresses the diversity debate in flamenco. Original arias collide head-on with raw energy. Humor rubs against pain. Tradition clashes with resistance. 
There is only one outcome: 
Carmen must die. For real this time. 

Bizet's famous opera Carmen, based on Mérimée's book, was written from an elitist perspective that looked down on the Roma people. In both the book and the opera, Roma are portrayed as beasts, devils, and dangerous seductresses. By attributing almost magical and demonic qualities to Carmen, Mérimée dehumanized her—which often led to her murder at the end being seen as justified. 

Moreover, Carmen is one of the few female roles in theater history with a Roma or Sinti background. Due to the lack of other representation, this fictional, problematic character has been able to grow into the face of an entire people for 150 years, with all the harmful stereotypes that entails. 

Carmen (must die) is an explosive, interdisciplinary performance for opera lovers, culture skeptics, young people who know the work of Giovanni Brand, and anyone who wants to know what happens when a classic is reclaimed by the people it is about.