Opera for 10 cashiers, supermarket sounds and piano
The plot of the opera "Good day!" is created by the different fates of the cashiers, usually hidden under the mask of an artificial smile and mechanical service - "Good day!", "Thank you!", "Good day!". Invisible in everyday life, robot-like saleswomen act as bright characters in the opera. The salespeople's thoughts, their CVs heard by the audience become a short, individual drama. The characters of cashiers are easily recognizable types that embody universal realities. The libretto of the opera intertwines colloquial, literary language and current events.
The atmosphere of the shopping center is recreated by an installation of daylight lamps and ambient sounds, connecting the audience hall with the space of 10 cashiers working on the stage. The decoration of the stage is minimal: the goods - like the obligatory, literal decoration of the supermarket - function in the opera in musical and verbal forms.
The main sound of the opera is a constant beeping sound that accompanies the item being scanned. He silences it, it makes it louder, but it never stops. The songs of the cashiers, accompanied by this sound, are reminiscent of the shopping process in their monotony. In the opera "Good days!", the music emphasizes the thoughts of the characters, helps them to hear them.
The creators of the opera avoid a moralizing tone: a critical approach to capitalism is revealed with humor, using irony and poetry. The mosaic of different fortunes of cashiers merges into a common chorus - a universal poem affirming the pleasure of consumption.
