Staging
Traditionally, the set is a single dark hall surrounded by the seven doors around the perimeter. As each door is opened, a stream of symbolically colored light comes forth (except in the case of the sixth door, for which the hall is actually darkened). The symbolic colors of the seven doors are as follows:
- (The torture chamber) Blood-red
- (The armory) Yellowish-red
- (The treasury) Golden
- (The garden) Bluish-green
- (The kingdom) White (the stage directions read: "in a gleaming torrent, the light streams in", "blue mountains")
- (The pool of tears) Darkness; the main hall is darkened, as if a shadow had passed over
- (The wives) Silvery (stage directions: "silver like the moon")
These lighting instructions are notably ignored in the movie (not staged) version {reference} of the opera, for which more elaborate, literal sets were constructed.
The slow orchestral introduction to the work is often preceded or overlapped by a spoken prologue, (also by Balázs, but published as "Prologue of the Bard" independently of the play). This poses to the audience the questions "Where is the stage? Is it outside, or inside?" as well as offering a warning to pay careful attention to the events about to unfold. The prologue warns the audience that the morals of the tale can apply to the real world as well as to that of Bluebeard and Judith. The character of the bard (or "regős" in the Hungarian language) is traditional in Hungarian folk music, and the words of the prologue (notably its opening lines "Haj, regő, rejtem") are associated with traditional Hungarian "regősénekek" (Regős songs), which Bartók had previously studied. The prologue is frequently omitted from performances; to some it seems heavy-handed and unnecessary, while to others it fits well with the reworked folktale atmosphere.
The stage directions call also for occasional ghostly sighs that seemingly emanate from the castle itself when some of the doors are opened. These have been implemented differently by different productions, sometimes clearly instrumentally, sometimes vocally and sometimes not easily identifiable.
Read more about this topic: Bluebeard's Castle
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