Piedmont Opera presents an Intimate and Immersive Pagliacci

There is something utterly exhilarating about theater on a thrust stage or in the round for both the performer and the audience. With the forced separation of the proscenium stage gone, the performance becomes personal, even intimate. Operas and musicals are virtually impossible to present fully in the round because of the need for an orchestra. However, a thrust stage, or 3/4 thrust, where the audience is on three sides of the stage, provides a place for the orchestra while bringing the actors and audience together. Most shows presented this way will have small casts and will lend themselves to more fourth wall breaks. Shows with a chorus are often too large and unwieldy for this more intimate environment. One could also argue that opera does not lend itself to this kind of setting because of the size of the voices and the even larger than larger-than-life nature of operatic performances. All of this made Piedmont Opera’s production of Pagliacci, presented at the Millennium Event Center in Winston-Salem, so fascinating.