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- The subtitle of The Marriage of Figaro (both the opera and the original play) is “A crazy day.” Have you ever had a day this crazy? What parts of your crazy day would make good operatic numbers?
- To Mozart’s original audience, the element of class was an important aspect of of The Marriage of Figaro—the idea of the servants outwitting the masters. How important is that component now? Could this opera work just as a silly comedy without that element?
- The Countess is considered the most serious and human character in The Marriage of Figaro. Is she the most likeable? the most sympathetic? the most real?
- Cherubino, the page, is a "trouser role" in the opera: a young man played by a woman, representing the unchanged soprano voice of a boy. What are the dramatic consequences of having a woman in that role? What aspects of the trouser role (also called "pants role" or "breeches part") are more or less realistic?
- The Marriage of Figaro (the original play) was banned because it was considered dangerous for audiences to see empowered servants outwitting their masters. Can a play actually be dangerous? Can a play be more dangerous than other art forms? Might other art forms be equally dangerous—or at least provocative? How would you rank various art forms on a scale of safety vs. danger? Consider drama, opera, novels, poetry, painting, sculpture, and others.
- The Marriage of Figaro is the second play of a trilogy—that is, Beaumarchais wrote a prequel and a sequel. The Barber of Seville, the first play of the set, has a familar plot: Count Almaviva courts Rosina, aided and abetted by his friend and servant Figaro, and wins her away from her jealous guardian. But the third play, The Guilty Mother, is almost unknown. What future plot developments can you imagine for Figaro, Susanna, and the Count and Countess Almaviva? What new characters would you create for your sequel?
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