Cowboys instead of hockey players: The Erfurt Theater will soon present an opera adaptation of “Brokeback Mountain” on its stage. The tragic tale of the gay love between two cowboys in rural Wyoming is set to premiere on March 28, according to the theater.
Similar to the two hockey players in the series “Heated Rivalry,” the two main characters in “Brokeback Mountain” are also forced to hide their relationship. The narrative, however, is markedly darker than the one in the Canadian streaming hit: “Just as Romeo and Juliet fail because of their families and society, we witness in this story, in this opera, a love story that also fractures the world around it,” says director Jakob Peters-Messer in a press release.
The opera, with music by Charles Wuorinen, is based on Annie Proulx’s eponymous short story from 1997. The Hollywood adaptation of the material, released in 2005, went on to win several Academy Awards.
