Surtitles and the multi-semiotic balance

Can over-information kill opera?

Judi Palmer | Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, UK

When surtitles were first introduced, in 1982, they were intended to make opera accessible to a larger audience. They fulfilled the basic requirement of maximum comprehension, minimum distraction. In the intervening years, however, there has been an increase in the quantity of displayed text so that the titles have become distracting and intrusive. In my contribution, I explore the reasons for this and discuss why I believe there is a need to put surtitles into their perspective, within the multi-semiotic balance of lyric theatre performances.

Keywords: surtitles, lyric theatre, semiotic balance, libretto

Published online: 29 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.153.02pal

References

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