William Kentridge directs Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at Glyndebourne Festival

William Kentridge, known for his drawing-based practice, approaches opera direction as working in the fourth dimension—adding time to the three-dimensional stage. This summer, he directs Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the Glyndebourne Festival in Sussex, a five-act opera from 1607 that ends with Apollo promising Orpheus immortality and Eurydice's eternal presence. Kentridge describes opera as a four-dimensional drawing shaped by music and libretto, embracing sensory overload akin to Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk. He has directed opera since 2005, starting with The Magic Flute at La Monnaie in Brussels, and has staged works by Shostakovich and Berg at venues including the Metropolitan Opera and La Scala. His 2016 Monteverdi production, The Return of Ulysses at Lincoln Center, featured life-size puppets and diagnostic imaging videos, earning a review in The New Yorker calling it 'absolutely thrilling.' Details of his L'Orfeo remain secret, but it is expected to be equally unexpected. L'Orfeo runs from 14 June to 25 July.