Bhutan February Diaries 1

The Royal Textile Academy in Thimphu
The new proposed performing site for Handel's Acis and Galatea

The Royal Textile Academy in Thimphu

The University of Texas in El Paso has sent a team on a mission to discover the performance possibilities of the new proposed site for the Opera Bhutan production, the newly constructed Royal Textile Academy in Thimphu due for inauguration in June 2013. Set on the hillside on the outskirts of the city proper, the spacious plaza offers views of the massive Buddha statue to the South and the Tashichodzong to the North that nestles in the gentle Thimphu valley.

The new Buddha overlooking the entry to Thimphu

Our technical team from the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, Rob, Steve and Harry quickly set to work to evaluate all the parameters concerning staging, sound and lighting. The building is not quite complete and the newness of the white painted walls and the grey stone work of the open pavement appear a little cool even though the building sports some magnificent traditional carpentry and painting. The acoustics are a little reverberant and our sound engineer Steve evaluates the necessary steps to iron out the problems and ensure that the inherent acoustic properties are brought to the service of the performance. There will be a lot of work to adapt this space to make it work for the performance but everyone is excited at the challenge. The potential is here to create a magnificent setting. 

Stefano Vizioli, Robert Schneider and Preston Scott discuss
the challenges of the site

Opera director Stefano Vizioli and myself began a mental visualization of the performance in this setting, imagining entries and exits here, an orchestral podium there, video screens, audience seating arrangements, position of Tibetan horns, Bhutanese dancers whirling centre stage, colourful decorations, sound and lighting equipment and an infinite inventory of all that is needed to assemble this production for the premiere on the 12 October 2013.

The traditional Bhutanese decoration

The view of the performing space towards the
Tashichodzong of Thimphu and the northern end
of Thimphu Valley