In three weeks the King Tut exhibit Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs will be leaving Toronto, heading off to the mountains of Denver. The exhibition has been a huge success, and has prompted a new wave of Egyptomania unseen since King Tut’s 1979 visit to the city.
It wouldnt be appropriate for the king to leave without a send-off, and the Art Gallery of Ontario has an interesting one. This Wednesday the gallery will play host to the premiere of Osiris and Isis the Opera. Composed by Colin Mack and directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin, this show will explore the most famous love story in Egyptian mythology. The company producing it is called Ariaworks, a start-up company created specifically to produce this.
Their website states: ‘The artistic vision of this presentation will make ancient Egypt and its mysteries vividly come to life through the dramatic expression of this passionate story of the ancient gods.’
To briefly sum up the Osiris and Isis myth, Isis is the loving wife of Osiris the same Osiris who has a rather nasty brother named Set. Set tries to kill Osiris by nailing him into a coffin (and throwing him into the Nile). Isis saves Osiris, recovering him intact. Set then chops Osiris up into pieces, forcing Isis to hunt them down and put them back together again. At the end of the day their son, Horus, is born. He in turn goes after Set, seeking revenge for all the mean things he did to Osiris.
Osiris isn’t the only Egyptian god to have escaped from the confines of the King Tut exhibitions recently. A giant Anubis was recently spotted being towed around New York’s harbour as a publicity stunt to announce that tickets are now on sale for the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at New York’s Discovery Times Square Expo. Tickets are also on sale for the Denver exhibit of the Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs show, and of course King Tut Virtual is always open to visitors.
Osiris and Isis the Opera premieres at the Walker Court at the Art Gallery of Ontario on Wednesday, March 31 at 7pm. Its a free event.