If I Were You

Presented by San Francisco Opera

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An opera in two acts by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer.

Loosely based on the novel Si j’étais vous by the French-American writer Julien Green, If I Were You is a contemporary story of identity with echoes of classical literature, from Faust to Jekyll and Hyde. The lead character is Fabian Hart, an aspiring writer who yearns for adventure and a way out of his stifling existence. Brittomara, a shape-shifting devil, appears to him in many guises, finally offering Fabian a supernatural power that will allow the writer to transfer his soul into other people’s bodies, living their lives as their own souls languish in a shadowy netherworld. Thus begins the journey of If I Were You as Fabian moves his increasingly lost soul from person to person in search of a better identity, leaving a trail of human wreckage and hollow shells. Performances in English (with supertitles).

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City: San Francisco
Price Range:
$35 to $80
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Program Items

Jake Heggie If I Were You

Performers

Nicole Paiement Conductor
Keturah Stickann Director

Herbst Theatre

Herbst Theatre

401 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States