English version of this libretto is in manuscript, translated by Margita Gailitis.

Annotation:

Kaupen, My Dear is libretto for rock opera in 2 acts. There are 11 female and 14 male roles + a chorus, musical groups and dance ensemble.

The play unfolds in the 1920s focusing on the disrepute earned by the thief and murderer Kaupens for the same period, whose name has been immortalized by a popular love song. In reality there is little that is romantic in his story ? 19 murders, many of which were committed without apparent motive. The central theme of the play is the complex, multifaceted love / hate relationship pf Kaupens with society - a society, which during wartime teaches man to kill but in peacetime condemns it. A society that is at the same time titillated by reports of committed crimes. A society in which the mass media profit form reporting crime, and through that reporting often breed more crime by people like Kaupens who thrive on perverse notoriety. The play also profiles the relationship of women to men like Kaupens. The play's women are eager to give themselves to Kaupens. Even the heroine Vallia, who is loved by Kaupens antagonist, the Poet, abandons the Poet without a moment?s hesitation, to throw herself in Kaupen's arms. In the rock opera, the mysterious and unanswerable question regarding man?t irrational nature is explored in passionate and anguished song. Why are the Kaupens of the world loved? Kaupens dies by hanging, but the song "Kaupen, my dear" lives on.


Performance:
Kaupen, My Dear is staged in Liepaja Theatre in 1999.
Composer - Janis Lusens
Director - Valdis Lurins

In February 2004, 100th performance of this rock opera took place, and it is still in the programme.

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