Sensory Guide for Carmen
Sensory Guides provide timestamped information on a production's sensory elements and content warnings as well as signposting for resources and support.
Information
Sensory Guides provide information about sensory elements of a live performance and the times at which they occur.
This can include unexpected loud noises, the use of haze, flashing lights or strobe lighting. They also provide information about triggering content, such as the use of guns, any kind of sexual content, or an actor performing emotional distress.
These can help support you with your enjoyment and understanding of a production and may be helpful to those who experience the challenges of mental health and trauma that could be triggered by a production.
Guidance
Suitable for ages 8+
This production contains a depiction of murder and themes of a sexual nature and violence. There are gunshots in Act I with blank shots fired. These are loud.
Approximate timings
The performance lasts approximately 3 hours and 5 minutes, including one interval.
Act 1 and 2: 1 hour 35 minutes
Interval: 25 minutes
Act 3 and 4: 1 hour 5 minutes
This Sensory Guide contain details of the story, so if you do not want to know this information, please do not continue to read.
The story
Synopsis
In a remote Spanish town, the free-spirited Carmen declares that any man she loves should beware. But even she is unprepared for what happens when she decides to seduce police officer Don José. Though initially uninterested in Carmen’s charms, Don José – against the wishes of his mother and of Micaëla, the woman who loves him – soon abandons his respectable career for a life of danger with Carmen. But she soon grows weary of Don José’s possessiveness, longing to return to a life of independence. When Carmen turns her attention to the celebrated toreador Escamillo, Don José’s jealousy and despair threaten to violently erupt.
To find out more about Carmen, including key plot points and background information: read our Opera Essentials: Carmen.
Characters
The characters of Carmen
Different singers may perform the roles of the characters listed above.
The characters will be wearing the same costumes and performing the same roles and story.
You can find who is performing by checking the cast sheet available on the day.
The performance
Audio Description is available.
This Sensory Guide contain details of the story, so if you do not want to know this information, please do not continue to read.
Act 1
Timing | Sensory Content |
|---|---|
From the beginning | Sound: Music is played by the orchestra in front of the stage. It is very loud at the start. |
At approximately 10 minutes | Action: Children run onto the stage holding toy guns, rifles and catapults. A police officer enters the stage and holds up a prop gun. |
At approximately 12 minutes | Sound and Action: The older children stamp their feet rhythmically to intimidate the smaller children. They do this twice and then stamp repeatedly. Three children run away screaming after being stamped on by other children. |
At approximately 13 minutes | Sound, Action, Content: Zuniga shoots a prop gun at a can which falls from the table. The prop gun fires blank shots and these are loud. |
At approximately 14 minutes | Sound: A child bangs on the vending machine, other children then join in. Action and Lighting: Two children set a firework alight in a bush. This occurs on the left hand side of the stage. The fire is controlled by stage crews. It is part of the performance and has been rehearsed safely. |
At approximately 14 minutes | Action: Don José smokes a prop cigarette. Other performers and members of the chorus then also smoke prop cigarettes. It is part of the performance and has been rehearsed safely. |
At approximately 15 minutes | Sound and Lighting: A pyrotechnic effect is used on stage to show fireworks. This occurs on the right hand side for the audience. Pyrotechnics are controlled by stage crews. This is part of the performance, has been rehearsed safely and no performers have been harmed. |
At approximately 20 minutes in | Action: A police officer drinks from a bottle, which he later gives to Carmen and she drinks from it. They are not drinking real alcohol. |
At approximately 22 minutes in | Action and Content: Carmen dances provocatively towards Zuniga and members of the chorus. |
At approximately 41 minutes in | Action: Two women begin fighting downstage centre. This is followed by further fighting among performers. This is part of the performance, has been rehearsed safely and no performers have been harmed. |
At approximately 47 minutes | Action and Content: Carmen and Don José embrace and touch one another. |
At approximately 54 minutes | Action and Sound: Carmen takes a prop gun from a police officer and points it at three men in the room. |
At approximately 55 minutes, at the end of Act I | Sound and Action: Carmen leaves the room and shoots a prop gun twice into the air. The prop gun fire blank shots and these are loud. |
At the end of Act 1 | Lighting: There is a blackout. The lights in the auditorium come back on when the safety curtain drops. |
Act 2
Timing | Sensory Content |
|---|---|
Throughout the performance | Action and Content: Throughout the performance, Don José and Carmen are physically and verbally aggressive with one another. This is part of the performance, has been rehearsed safely and no performers have been harmed. |
At the beginning | Action and Content: Mercédès and Frasquita enter the stage with bottles. One hands the bottle to Carmen and they drink throughout the scene. They are not drinking real alcohol. |
At approximately 4 minutes in | Action and content: Performers dance provocatively in the nightclub. |
At approximately 14 minutes in | Lighting: A van is driven on stage with headlights pointing towards downstage left. The lights are turned off. |
At approximately 24 minutes in | Action and Content: Carmen and Don José dance intimately. Carmen removes her clothes, revealing her underwear. |
At approximately 38 minutes in | Action: Don José and Zuniga fight outside the nightclub. This is part of the performance, has been rehearsed safely and no performers have been harmed. |
At the end of Act 2 | Content and Action: Don José is arrested, sent to prison and released. |
At the end of Act 2 | Lighting: There is a blackout. The lights in the auditorium come back on when the safety curtain drops. |
Interval – 25 minutes
Act 3
Timing | Sensory Content |
|---|---|
From the beginning of the Act | Lighting: The headlights from the van parked on stage are lit facing towards the audience. Action and Content: Dancaïro, Remendado and other members of the chorus enter the stage holding prop rifles and guns. |
At approximately 3 minutes in | Action: Zuniga is kidnapped. A fabric bag has been placed over his head. |
At approximately 5 minutes in | Action: Don José smokes a prop cigarette. It is part of the performance and has been rehearsed safely. |
At approximately 15 minutes in | Content: Mercédès and Frasquita enter with a bottle and pour shots and drink them. They are not drinking real alcohol. |
At approximately 16 minutes | Content: The smuggling container revolves on the stage platform, showing bottles of alcohol being illegally stored. |
At approximately 16 minutes in | Action and Content: The chorus stack various prop guns and bottles into boxes. |
At approximately 25 minutes in | Content: Don José holds a prop rifle. |
At approximately 26 minutes in | Action: Escamillo smokes a prop cigarette. It is part of the performance and has been rehearsed safely. |
At approximately 27 minutes in | Action and Content: Don José pulls a prop knife out from his pocket and points it towards Escamillo. He runs toward him with the prop knife throughout this scene. |
At approximately 29 minutes in | Action and Content: Don José and Escamillo re-enact a bullfight, but get into a physical fight. Don José is holding a prop knife. This is part of the performance, has been rehearsed safely and no performers have been harmed. |
At approximately 32 minutes in | Action and Content: Micaëla comes out of the container holding a prop rifle, Don José takes it from her and passes it on to Dancaïro. |
At the end of Act 3 | Lighting: There is a blackout. The lights in the auditorium come back on when the safety curtain drops. |
Act 4
Timing | Sensory Content |
|---|---|
Approximately 4-6 minutes in | Sound and Action: Children scream followed by cheers from the chorus for Escamillo. |
At approximately 5 minutes in | Sound: The chorus and children's chorus in the chorus sing a complex line layered over the orchestra playing a different motif, which can sound jarring. |
At approximately 22 minutes in | Action and Content: Don José performs putting Carmen into a headlock and takes her to the ground. He then strangles her and she struggles. Carmen dies in this scene. This is part of the performance, has been rehearsed safely and no performers have been harmed. |
At the end of the performance | Lighting and Sound: There is a blackout. The lights in the auditorium come back on so the cast and creatives can take a bow and the audiences can applaud. This can be noisy. |
Resources
For the topics covered in Carmen
If you have been affected by the themes and content of Carmen the following resources might be helpful.
Women's Aid
Women's Aid provide support, education and advocacy on domestic abuse for women and children in the UK.
Refuge
Refuge provide support through a phoneline to anyone experiencing domestic abuse.
- Visit the website of Refuge where you can use their live chat service.
- Phone – 0808 2000 247
The Samaritans
- Visit the website of Samaritans
- Phone – 116 123
- Text the word SHOUT to 85258
C.A.L.L (Wales only)
Provides emotional support, resources and information on mental health for those living in Wales.
- Visit the website of C.A.L.L
- Phone – 0800 132 737
Mind
Provides information, advice and advocacy for a variety of mental health issues and challenges.
- Visit the website of Mind
- Phone – 0300 123 3392 for mental health information
Access Scheme
When you join our Access Scheme, you can customise your account with your specific access requirements.
You can tailor the booking process to include:
- Different kinds of accessible seating
- Personalised Accessible Performance and event information, dates and prices
- Discounted tickets for scheduled Accessible Performances, including Relaxed Performances
- A complimentary companion ticket for those who require personal assistance
- Access to resources such as Audio Described magazines, Audio Described introductions, Visual Stories, Sensory Guides, British Sign Language-interpreted synopsis videos and large print Season Guides
- Information on how to access assistive hearing devices and Audio Description equipment
