Our production of CARMEN features a heap of organs - heart, kidneys and testicles – some of them human, some of them from a bull. Most of the organs are comprised of kidneys, and they are split into two groups: the kidneys being sold for transplants by Carmen’s gang of smugglers and used by Carmen and her friends for telling the future in the famous card scene. In all, 54 kidneys made out of silicon can be seen onstage, floating in plexiglass receptacles. And then there are a few kidneys that have to be oozing blood, and they have been whittled out of sponges so they can soak up the fake blood. Both types of kidney have been made to resemble human kidneys in shape and size. We never once entertained the idea of sourcing real kidneys from a slaughterhouse. That would have been really messy and a big ask of the singers.

Carmen © Marcus Lieberenz