0:00:31 > 0:00:33Hello and welcome to The Arts Show.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36This month we are in the MAC in Belfast.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39And yes, these are sweets but also art. More on that later.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Here's what's coming up on tonight's show.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Belfast's Queer Arts Festival, Outburst, is currently underway.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51We examine how the gay community is reflected culturally
0:00:51 > 0:00:53in contemporary Northern Ireland.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Our short film-makers have had international success
0:00:57 > 0:00:58in recent times.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00We shine a spotlight on the genre and ask,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04is it more than simply a calling card to feature film?
0:01:04 > 0:01:07And the Tarantino of opera shoots from the hip
0:01:07 > 0:01:11about his controversial interpretation of Puccini's Turandot
0:01:11 > 0:01:14in Belfast. I'm tweeting now...
0:01:14 > 0:01:15Do join me.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Belfast's Queer Arts Festival, Outburst,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28is now in its ninth year and still has two days left to run.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30It is a time of great change,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33the marriage equality vote in the Republic has opened up a new
0:01:33 > 0:01:37debate and Northern Ireland is looking increasingly out of step.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40So what has changed for gay people in Northern Ireland,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and what impact have those changes had on the city's cultural life?
0:01:44 > 0:01:46David Grant reports.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52Outburst. The very name demands attention.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56The love that dared not speak its name is now declaring itself
0:01:56 > 0:01:59loud and proud throughout the city,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02in its galleries, on its stages and on its cinema screens.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06It is a far cry from my memories of our virtual invisibility
0:02:06 > 0:02:09on the first Belfast Pride march in the early 1990s.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13My own gay play, Tangles, was boycotted in Dublin
0:02:13 > 0:02:15and had its funding withdrawn.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19Outburst started life in 2006.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Soon after, Belfast hosted the first gay civil partnership
0:02:22 > 0:02:24ceremony in the UK.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27And yet, the general euphoria around the Republic's
0:02:27 > 0:02:31equal marriage referendum has served to highlight that Northern Ireland,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33uniquely on these islands,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37denies gay relationships equal status with their straight peers.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Outburst's programme this year is its most ambitious yet.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Highlights include Prime Cut's specially commissioned piece,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Scorch, from playwright Stacey Gregg.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Trouble, from artist and gay activist Shannon Yee,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51giving voice to the experiences of people
0:02:51 > 0:02:53growing up during the Troubles.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55And a cabaret taking a wry look
0:02:55 > 0:02:58at the apparent mainstreaming of gay life within society.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Middle Of The Road, to me,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03is the place where we should all be finding sanctuary now.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06I think a lot of us have been left-field and weird for long enough
0:03:06 > 0:03:08and I feel now that we should stop all that.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11We need to work out what way it is going to work...
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Ruth McCarthy is Outburst's founding director.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17I asked her, in the light of all these changes,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21who does she think the Outburst Festival is now for?
0:03:21 > 0:03:23The short answer is, Outburst is for everyone.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Up to 40% of our audiences now do not identify
0:03:26 > 0:03:30as LGB or T, we know this, which is wonderful.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33But it is primarily a space where we in the LGBT community,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37and LGBT artists, queer artists, can play, can bring new ideas.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41Where we can explore queer experience in all its nuances
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and not just a kind of a black
0:03:43 > 0:03:46and white that we sometimes get to see in the media.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Where we can explore what diversity
0:03:48 > 0:03:52and difference is really about, and do that through the arts.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Stacey Gregg's Scorch seems to be a play that negotiates those
0:03:56 > 0:03:58complexities with great skill.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01What's wonderful about Scorch is that it deals with
0:04:01 > 0:04:04the issue of gender identity.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08The central character doesn't say for definite that they are trans or
0:04:08 > 0:04:11that they are gender neutral or that
0:04:11 > 0:04:14they are maybe just a wee butch lesbian.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16It doesn't have any tidy answers.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20My girl, Jules.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25I do wonder if liking girls means I am "un homo"!
0:04:25 > 0:04:27But I don't know any real ones yet.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Just convince myself, I will probably get a boyfriend
0:04:30 > 0:04:33one day, like, when I have to.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37A recent Channel 4 survey said that 50% of young people
0:04:37 > 0:04:39no longer identify as heterosexual.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41That's really interesting.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44There's an understanding these days that sexual orientation
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and gender identity is a far more complex issue than just
0:04:47 > 0:04:50straight, gay or even throw bi in the mix.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52As the success of The Queen of Ireland,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56the new film about Panti Bliss has made clear,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59gay people are becoming ever more visible in public life in Ireland.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02And yet, many of our stories remain untold.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Shannon Yee has been working hard
0:05:04 > 0:05:06to reclaim some of that missing history.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08As her producer Niall Rea tells me,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10it's getting some of Northern Ireland's leading actors
0:05:10 > 0:05:12into Trouble.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14We've got a lot of actors into Trouble.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The first two actors I asked, actually, were Marie Jones
0:05:17 > 0:05:18and Ian McElhinney.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20They were very happy and delighted to say yes,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23especially with it being the 10th anniversary of the first
0:05:23 > 0:05:27civil partnership in the UK, which happened at Belfast City Hall.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It is actually Shannon's own anniversary as well.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32You're making a huge personal leap of faith with
0:05:32 > 0:05:33the creation of the Barracks.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37This is investing in the arts in a time of contracting resources.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40What has given you the confidence?
0:05:40 > 0:05:43I knew this kind of space was needed for the arts community,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46both queer and the wider arts community.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50There needed to be a cheap, artist-led volunteer-run space.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53TheatreofplucK, my company,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57was the first publicly funded gay theatre company in Ireland.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02So I thought, why shouldn't it have the first purpose-built gay space?
0:06:02 > 0:06:04We will get right back to you, OK?
0:06:04 > 0:06:05Sadly, both Outburst
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and TheatreofplucK have recently learnt that promised
0:06:07 > 0:06:09investment from the Arts Council,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13aimed at ensuring sustainability of both organisations, is now in doubt.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15It will certainly be ironic
0:06:15 > 0:06:17if a diversion of funds intended to support minorities
0:06:17 > 0:06:20means that these gay oriented projects lose out.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23So despite the clear sense of progress in Outburst's
0:06:23 > 0:06:25nine-year history, I asked Ruth McCarthy
0:06:25 > 0:06:27how much she felt had really changed.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29I think what has changed hugely
0:06:29 > 0:06:31is the confidence of the LGBT community.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34I think a lot more people are willing to say
0:06:34 > 0:06:35we have had enough now.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38And there are a lot more people willing to stand up
0:06:38 > 0:06:41and come out to their families, and we do know that change
0:06:41 > 0:06:45happens more readily when you know somebody who is gay.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I think the more we grow in confidence as a community,
0:06:48 > 0:06:49and the more we celebrate
0:06:49 > 0:06:51the diversity of voices that there is in the community,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53cos it's not a homogenous community,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55I think the more confidence we have,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57that is when things will change more.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01Despite the growing confidence of the audience
0:07:01 > 0:07:03that Outburst seeks to serve,
0:07:03 > 0:07:08its sheer diversity makes including everyone quite a challenge.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12I still wonder how many of those people walking for equal marriage
0:07:12 > 0:07:15at the City Hall would have engaged with the term "queer",
0:07:15 > 0:07:18and in particular, I suspect there may be a proportion of
0:07:18 > 0:07:21people who identify as gay who would not be comfortable with that label.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Maybe seven, eight, nine years ago that would have been the case.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Much less so now. The term has become much more acceptable.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32There is a charity in Belfast called QueerSpace.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35You talked about Queer at Queen's.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40In fact, the bar we are in often use the term "the queer quarter"
0:07:40 > 0:07:45to identify this plethora of LGBT friendly venues around this area.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48The term queer is becoming much more accepted, I believe.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52We are all so different and all of that needs to be celebrated
0:07:52 > 0:07:55but I don't think there is a hierarchy of what is more
0:07:55 > 0:07:57important than the other.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Yes, of course there will be spaces where people feel uncomfortable
0:08:01 > 0:08:05and that is OK, we need to be OK with uncomfortable as well.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10For nearly a decade, Outburst has provided a vibrant
0:08:10 > 0:08:12showcase for queer culture in Belfast.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16It will be interesting to see if changing social attitudes
0:08:16 > 0:08:18eventually make it unnecessary.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23While shining an international light on gay issues is this major
0:08:23 > 0:08:27exhibition by Cuban-born American artist Felix Gonzales-Torres.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Whilst filling out the MAC's galleries this winter,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34his work also features on billboards right across the city.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36The curator is Eoin Dara.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Who was Felix Gonzales-Torres?
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Felix was a Cuban-born American artist who spent
0:08:42 > 0:08:46most of his adult life and career based out of New York.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50He made most of his artworks at a very particular social
0:08:50 > 0:08:55and political moment in the US in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59The artworks could very broadly be described as sculpture
0:08:59 > 0:09:00in a lot of ways.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05But not sculpture in any easily understood definition of that word.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12What is he trying to do with the silver wrapped sweets?
0:09:12 > 0:09:15The sculpture or artwork that you are speaking about is
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Untitled (Lover Boys).
0:09:17 > 0:09:23The work exists in the installation of what Felix called an ideal
0:09:23 > 0:09:28weight of 355lbs of candy, dropped in a gallery space.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Configured in whatever way a curator pleases.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35And that represented his weight and his partner's weight?
0:09:35 > 0:09:38At the ideal weight that Felix specified,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42that's where you kind of find that allegorical portrait element
0:09:42 > 0:09:46where it is the combined weight of himself and his partner at the time.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53He was dealing with very specific issues around AIDS,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56around that huge crisis of identity
0:09:56 > 0:09:58in America in the 1990s.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03How relevant is that to Northern Ireland today?
0:10:03 > 0:10:04As an individual, at that time,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07he was heavily involved in community activism
0:10:07 > 0:10:09and collaborative practice with other artist groups,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12highlighting issues within society that weren't being
0:10:12 > 0:10:15talked about enough, such as the AIDS crisis,
0:10:15 > 0:10:18and I've think that those ideas all come forth in his artworks,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22those ideas are all still present in the artworks
0:10:22 > 0:10:24that are in the MAC today.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27It's that challenging of accepted norms,
0:10:27 > 0:10:31that fight is more relevant than ever, I feel, in Northern Ireland.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Northern Ireland has a strong track record in short filmmaking,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45producing Oscar and Bafta award-winning films
0:10:45 > 0:10:47and numerous nominations.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50But while we clearly punch well above our weight,
0:10:50 > 0:10:55is it a genre in its own right, or an apprenticeship for feature films?
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Daniel Dewsbury investigates.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01RHYTHMIC FOOT TAPPING
0:11:01 > 0:11:05In 1997, Tim Loane and Dave Duggan's Dance, Lexie, Dance
0:11:05 > 0:11:09was nominated for Best Live Action Short at the 70th Academy Awards.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Turn that thing down, will you?
0:11:12 > 0:11:15In the years since, a level of self belief has been generated
0:11:15 > 0:11:16amongst short film makers here.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20The North has no shortage of artistic and technical talent,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and it would seem their work is reaching an international audience.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26In 2011, Michael Creagh's film about a young boy's infatuation
0:11:26 > 0:11:30with his teacher, The Crush, received an Oscar nomination
0:11:30 > 0:11:33after winning Best Short at the Foyle Film Festival.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Does this mean we're engaged?
0:11:35 > 0:11:36It's gaining on us!
0:11:36 > 0:11:40In 2012, Terry George and his daughter Oorlagh took the Oscar
0:11:40 > 0:11:42for Best Live Action short, The Shore.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43Marm!
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Then, in 2014, Brian Falconer and Michael Lennox
0:11:46 > 0:11:48won the Bafta for Boogaloo And Graham,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51which then went on to get an Oscar nomination.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54- Everyone has a dog, no-one has chickens!- Exactly.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56First of all, it's been an amazing year for me,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01cos Boogaloo And Graham aligned with my first feature, so they helped
0:12:01 > 0:12:03impact each other, so for me, in the last year,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05I've taken a massive step,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08I think, in working professionally, but for me,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11the main thing was that, in London and America,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15people would be taking me a bit more seriously.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17People know that there's Hollywood productions
0:12:17 > 0:12:19happening on their doorstep here,
0:12:19 > 0:12:21but I think what we did with Boogaloo And Graham is,
0:12:21 > 0:12:24these young film makers have seen us and kind of gone, like,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27"I know that guy", and suddenly realise, "I could do that."
0:12:27 > 0:12:29The reality of it is, if you have a good script
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and you have a good director and you've organised it well,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34you can do it, and I think that's what we've shown people.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Is the goal always to make features, or do you think there's something
0:12:37 > 0:12:39about the short film that still excites you?
0:12:39 > 0:12:43For me, I plan to make another short film starting next year.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I make short films, you know, every year. It's not to say,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48once I get a first feature film I'll never make a short.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51They're just two different aspects of filmmaking,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54and I think Northern Ireland has proved in the last few years
0:12:54 > 0:12:57- we're good at making short films. - For people starting out,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59shorts is a platform where you can make mistakes.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01There's little risk of it stopping your career.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04It's a place for people to learn if they like making films,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07if they're good at it, and what's happened with the film industry
0:13:07 > 0:13:10here over the past five years, nobody would have predicted,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14but it's time for the indigenous film makers to take over, you know,
0:13:14 > 0:13:19and to start actually producing feature films by Northern Irish
0:13:19 > 0:13:23writers, Northern Irish directors and Northern Irish producers.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26If you look at the last three films from here that have been
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Oscar-nominated, they make people laugh.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30BOYS SCREAM
0:13:30 > 0:13:32- MOTHER:- Get into that bathroom!
0:13:32 > 0:13:35I've been guilty of making so many depressing short films.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39It's taken me a long time to realise that there are other
0:13:39 > 0:13:41emotions in the spectrum.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44When we made Boogaloo And Graham, I look back and I was just like,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46"We've cracked it", you know? It's comedy.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Comedy is the thing that reaches out to everyone.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52PIANO MELODY
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Aislinn Clark is an experienced short filmmaker, and at the end
0:13:55 > 0:13:58of this month production will start on her first feature.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02I think short film is a useful place for filmmakers
0:14:02 > 0:14:05to play around with things that you might not be able
0:14:05 > 0:14:08to play around with in feature-length filmmaking.
0:14:08 > 0:14:09PIANO MELODY
0:14:09 > 0:14:12If you are making a short, you can take the opportunity to be
0:14:12 > 0:14:14a bit more experimental, try things out a bit more.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18I think shorts are definitely an important way of getting
0:14:18 > 0:14:20you in shape for making a feature.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23I don't think anybody would be advised to go off
0:14:23 > 0:14:25and make a feature without having made a short.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29A lot of people see it as just being a mini version of a feature film,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32but actually, short films are their own complete thing and they can
0:14:32 > 0:14:34and should be taken in that spirit.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38I think short film is definitely an important step towards building
0:14:38 > 0:14:41a reputation internationally for film in Northern Ireland.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Northern Ireland is an extremely vibrant place
0:14:44 > 0:14:46for filmmaking at the minute.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48It's a very exciting place make for filmmaking right now,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52and I think the ripples are echoing across the world.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55PIANO MUSIC
0:14:55 > 0:14:57Like many local filmmakers,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Aislinn has received funding from Northern Ireland Screen,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05the agency responsible for directing public money into film production.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08To develop the sector generally, you have to create opportunities.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Short films are a great opportunity for,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12particularly, writers and directors.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16This single, strategic focus we have for short films
0:15:16 > 0:15:19at Northern Ireland Screen is to impress on those making
0:15:19 > 0:15:22the films that they need to have a purpose.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Not everybody will like me saying this, but from a strategic
0:15:25 > 0:15:27point of view, they're not an end in themselves for us.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Yet there are a range of other genres -
0:15:30 > 0:15:34documentary, art and experimental films, animation -
0:15:34 > 0:15:38which don't fit so readily into this very industry-based view.
0:15:40 > 0:15:47I think, for me, I look at the short film as a poetic work of art.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Back in the day when I went to film school,
0:15:49 > 0:15:54a short film was ten minutes. It was for cinema. It had to be cinematic.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58It had to have mise en scene, it had to have a narrative arc,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01a turning point, maybe a gag, maybe a joke,
0:16:01 > 0:16:02maybe a revelation at the end.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09It's not necessarily financial, is not necessarily fame.
0:16:09 > 0:16:17It might just be too tell a little story about your cat, I don't know.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22The city I know was built in the global age.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24When the world was already round.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26Stuart Sloan is a local filmmaker
0:16:26 > 0:16:30and also one of the founders of Second Chance Cinema.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Part of the reason we wanted to start screening films
0:16:33 > 0:16:36is because there's so little opportunity in Belfast.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38And what opportunity there is sometimes gets
0:16:38 > 0:16:43dominated by funded films, or a bigger-budget films.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47The city of 20 years ago is being erased slowly.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49Sometimes when you make a film, you spend all those hours,
0:16:49 > 0:16:51and you just put it on YouTube,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53and people kind of watch it while doing something else.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56That kind of devalues it a little bit.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58We show things a dedicated cinema space.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01In darkness, lights off, comfy seats.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04That gives a certain validity to the films themselves.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07And as a film-maker, that's often all you get.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09And it's worth it for that.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13The success of a number of narrative shorts over the last 20 years
0:17:13 > 0:17:16shows what can be achieved with funding and support.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19But the industry won't provide for everything.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22And developing a really vibrant filmgoing culture means
0:17:22 > 0:17:24enabling other voices.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28With money coming in from the commercial sector, the next step
0:17:28 > 0:17:31is to build up the diversity of films made and seen here.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Puccini's Opera, Turandot, best known for its aria Nessun Dorma,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44was recently staged in Belfast by Northern Ireland Opera
0:17:44 > 0:17:46in its first international coproduction.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50It was a radical reinterpretation by Calixto Bieito,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53who's been described as Europe's most over-the-top director.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57He's firmly part of the contemporary opera world,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00which renovates traditional opera in increasingly shocking
0:18:00 > 0:18:02and sensational ways.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05I met him on opening night.
0:18:05 > 0:18:06OPERA MUSIC
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Very dramatic, but pretty gruesome!
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Unfortunately, sometimes the grotesque
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and the sense of menace took away from the traditional story.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Pretty theatrical, pretty gory, and a bit shocking in places.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29It's shocking, it's bloody, it's violent.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34I don't think it's bloody or shocking. I don't think so.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40What I'm trying to do with Puccini is to be very near to the music,
0:18:40 > 0:18:44because this is probably my favourite opera of Puccini.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48I'm trying to express the emotions inside the music.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52I'm never thinking that I will shock the audience with that.
0:18:52 > 0:18:58Newspapers are shocking me much more than any opera or any piece of art.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03I think, first of all, Calixto's interpretation isn't just about
0:19:03 > 0:19:06shocking, and it's not just about blood and gore and all those things.
0:19:06 > 0:19:07Although there is a lot of that.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10There is a lot of that, but I think there probably would be in any
0:19:10 > 0:19:12production of Turandot, actually.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14But I think that what's more important is that it's a very
0:19:14 > 0:19:16sophisticated take on the opera.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18I think this is very, very clear -
0:19:18 > 0:19:20this is something which has a huge amount of integrity.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23As well as something which is disturbing.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27I thought it was exploitative.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29I thought it was unnecessarily violent.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32The setting was obviously a bit controversial.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I thought the idea of moving the scene of the opera
0:19:35 > 0:19:38to Revolutionary China was a good one.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42But some of the other special effects were over the top,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46for me, and I thought they stood in the way of following the music.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49I'm a bit of a traditionalist, to be honest.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52I like to see operas in the period in which they're set.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Why is it important though,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04to resite a traditional opera in a contemporary context?
0:20:04 > 0:20:09What is really important is the will inside of yourself
0:20:09 > 0:20:12to put this opera to the audience today.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14Otherwise the opera, it will die.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19You can say, "Listen, I like much more the opera where it is
0:20:19 > 0:20:22"with wonderful costumes like in Disney."
0:20:22 > 0:20:26I like much more the show like this done in this direction.
0:20:26 > 0:20:28This is just a question of taste.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35What the director was trying to do with this production was to
0:20:35 > 0:20:39make sure that the setting wasn't something which was just
0:20:39 > 0:20:42a fairytale. That it was a setting we could relate to.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47And he did this by replacing the action away from that
0:20:47 > 0:20:50into a more contemporary setting, in a factory, where the workers
0:20:50 > 0:20:53are downtrodden, they have no rights, they have no wages.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Again, they're completely subservient to the
0:20:55 > 0:20:57person in charge, in this case, the boss.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01I guess this is what Turandot is in this particular interpretation.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04And he draws some very, very startling
0:21:04 > 0:21:06and relevant parallels by doing this.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09I think it makes it much more fresh and much more contemporary.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12I think that's important, and I think that's good.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16It means that opera doesn't just become about escapism,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19but it becomes about people's lives, and life as it is now.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Fantastic! Absolutely fantastic. Very moving.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28The torture was really quite believable.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Your body could actually feel it.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35I've been talking to people who've said, "I didn't come to see that."
0:21:39 > 0:21:43I think there are images in the interpretation which
0:21:43 > 0:21:47- I have certainly never seen on stage before.- Like what?
0:21:47 > 0:21:51There is a scene whereby a woman is on the stage,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55and it's very clear that she's been the victim of sexual assault.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02I think that what's Calixto's doing by interrupting
0:22:02 > 0:22:06the piece in this way is making sure that some of the undercurrents
0:22:06 > 0:22:08of the piece, where total power is very,
0:22:08 > 0:22:12very brutalising for the people who exercise it, as well as for
0:22:12 > 0:22:15the people who are the victims of it, is absently at the forefront.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19I think that is something which we see now, we see brutal regimes
0:22:19 > 0:22:22and the way they treat people, the way which, often women,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26in particular, are treated, when people have complete power.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33# But if you strip her naked... #
0:22:33 > 0:22:36The original version was hard to beat. Really.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40It's a beautiful piece of music, and I couldn't understand why
0:22:40 > 0:22:44anybody would want to do some of the things they did.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46I wonder what Puccini would have thought of it?
0:22:49 > 0:22:52It's very difficult, of course, to know exactly what Puccini wanted.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Often people say, "One should just do what the composer wanted,"
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and it's impossible to know what composer would have wanted.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01I think what we are doing is making sure those themes,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04those undercurrents in the original work
0:23:04 > 0:23:06have meaning for a contemporary audience.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10I think as soon as one starts to put productions in period costumes,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13I think there is a distance between what's on stage and the audience,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16simply because people don't recognise these people.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20I think it becomes an event which is something else.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23And I think an artistic event has to be challenging.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28It brings opera, which is very traditional,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30into a very modern setting.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33And maybe opening it up to a wider audience, which is good.
0:23:36 > 0:23:42So opera should shock, it should provoke, it should make people react?
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Opera must make people feel emotions.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49I think the nearest thing to God is music.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Music has to provoke this feeling.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55And, when you go home, if you think what you saw in this opera
0:23:55 > 0:24:00and you can have a good discussion with your friends,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02this is what opera has to do.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04- Calixto, thank you.- Thank you.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12MUSIC: Nessun Dorma
0:24:12 > 0:24:16As we said earlier, Nessun Dorma is Turandot's most famous aria.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20The Art Show thought it would be fun if a member of the cast went
0:24:20 > 0:24:24along to Cliftonville football ground to sing it at an Irish League game.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26You can watch our video online.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29HE HOLDS A TRIUMPHANT NOTE
0:24:29 > 0:24:31APPLAUSE
0:24:33 > 0:24:37And staying with opera - few in the audience will have seen as many
0:24:37 > 0:24:40productions as Belfast man, Richard Clarke.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44Turandot was his 528th opera,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47and he's kept the programmes of every production he's been to see.
0:24:47 > 0:24:53It's a collection that reflects a lifelong passion that began in 1945.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56MUSIC: Marriage Of Figaro (Overture) by Mozart
0:25:01 > 0:25:03I just love opera. I love the sound of it.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13The Sadler's Wells Company came over here, and they did three operas.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20Boheme, Butterfly and, surprisingly, The Bartered Bride.
0:25:23 > 0:25:24I got to see all these.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28At that time I was at school, and it was just across the road.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30And I went quite often.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38I had some pocket money, but I also had dinner money.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40And the money for the dinner,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43I very rarely spent on school dinners.
0:25:43 > 0:25:44I had a Mars bar instead.
0:25:44 > 0:25:49And the money would be then available, either for buying
0:25:49 > 0:25:51gramophone records, or coming to the opera here.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59Talk to me about Maria Callas,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02- because you have a signed photograph of her as well?- Yes.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Did you like her a lot? Was she your favourite?
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Yes, she was.
0:26:05 > 0:26:10She had a great emotional intensity, that she could put into something.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21So where else in the world did you go to? What other famous opera houses?
0:26:21 > 0:26:27Bayreuth, Wagner's home for a long period, was a great attraction.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36We sat through the whole of The Ring, twice.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44In those days you could get into Bayreuth.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47Nowadays, there's a waiting list for tickets.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50But this was the first post-war festival.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56I still have the programmes and the ticket stubs,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58which I stuck into an album.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01What has putting this collection together meant to you?
0:27:01 > 0:27:05In the last few weeks, it has stirred up all my old memories,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and made me think of the great operas I've seen,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10and the great characters I've seen in them.
0:27:13 > 0:27:19This is a rich archive of opera history, from the late 1940s,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21right up to present day.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27Do you think young people are as passionate as you were about opera?
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Sadly, they're not. You see very few young people at any of these things.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34It's mostly the grey-haired brigade.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Your children, what do they make of your collection?
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Well, they're not interested, just at all.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43They're not interested in opera or the archives of opera.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47So I'll have to find a good home for all my material.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04And The Art Show is pleased to reveal that Richard is
0:28:04 > 0:28:07donating his collection to Northern Ireland Opera,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10which will make it available online in due course.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13And that's it for this month, we're back in December,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16with a special tribute to Brian Friel.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18And the conversation continues now on Twitter
0:28:18 > 0:28:20and on BBC Radio Ulster,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22Tuesdays-Fridays, at 6.30pm.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Until next time, good night.