The Old Man and The Sea

Based on the Ernest Hemingway’s 1952 novella, this innovative adaptation of The Old Man and the Sea is the result of a collaboration between illustrious composer Paola Prestini, librettist Royce Vavrek, and conductor and stage director Karmina Šilec. Breathtakingly staged with eight pools of water enhanced with dynamic lighting, costumes, and sound, the performance combines the Hemingway text with original portraits of everyday life to create a look at aging, legacy, and our relationship to the ocean.

Onstage, you’ll hear music from longtime collaborators and muses of Prestini’s, including Jeffrey Zeigler as the featured cellist, as well as percussionists and a 16-person chorus featuring students from Ohio State’s School of Music. The cast brings to life the book’s pivotal characters: Santiago, Manolin, and the wife, who’s rewritten as La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, a goddess in the Afro-Caribbean faith Santería, found floating off the coast of Cuba in 1628. Themes of baseball, ecology, religion, and economy paint a conflict between progress, tradition, passion, and exploitation, ultimately shedding contemporary perspectives on this timeless tale.