Carmen

STORY Seville, Spain, around 1820

ACT 1 
The brigadier Moralès and his soldiers pass the time watching the townspeople in a public square in Seville. A young woman from the country, Micaëla, enters, looking for Don José, a corporal in the regiment. She is told that he will come when the guard arrives and to return later.

The guard detail arrives when the factory bell rings. The women come out to the plaza on their break and among them is the beautiful Carmen. Despite the entreats of the men that she should love them, Carmen stays true to herself, warning them about the consequences if she actually loved them. When presented with a flower, Carmen selects Don José—the one man seemingly uninterested in her—and throws him the flower. 

After the crowd departs, José is troubled by the flower, but his reverie is interrupted by Micaëla who brings a letter and a kiss from his mother. Micaëla leaves while José reads the letter and promises to marry Micaëla as his mother wishes.

Suddenly screams are heard from the factory and José is sent inside to learn the cause. Carmen is accused of fighting with another worker. The officer orders that she be imprisoned. Left under the guard of José, Carmen invites him to accompany her to the inn of Lillas Pastia if he allows her to escape. José loosens her bonds, and as they set out for the prison, Carmen pushes him to the ground and escapes. 

ACT 2 
At Lillas Pastia's inn, Carmen and her friends, Frasquita and Mercédès, sing for the patrons. The officer Zuniga tells Carmen that José was imprisoned for allowing her to escape but was released a few hours ago.

The bullfighter Escamillo appears, hailed by the crowd. He is fascinated by Carmen and asks if she will ever love him. The revolutionaries Dancairo and Remendado arrive and try to convince Carmen and her friends to join them on a smuggling venture. She refuses, telling them that she has fallen for the soldier who released her and must wait for his return. They insist that she must help in order to move their smuggled contraband.

José arrives at the inn. Carmen sings and dances for him, but when the bugle retreat is sounded from the barracks, José says he must leave. Carmen invites him to desert the army and join the revolutionaries, but he refuses. Before leaving, José professes his love for Carmen, and then begins his flight back to his regiment. Zuniga, returning in hopes of spending the evening with Carmen, stops him. The men fight, and the jealous José strikes his superior officer. Now an outlaw, José has no choice but to join Carmen and her friends.  

Act 3
The revolutionaries are moving the smuggled contraband over the mountain pass as per Dancairo’s venture. Carmen, tired of José's jealousy, decides to join her friends and reads her fortune with cards. Carmen sees her future, and repeatedly only discovers death in store for her.

The revolutionaries head out to distract the three officials guarding the pass. José is left on guard. Micaëla arrives, searching for José to give him news of his mother. She hides when she sees José fire at a lone figure, who turns out to be Escamillo. The bullfighter has journeyed to find Carmen with whom he is in love and whom he has heard has become disenchanted with her soldier friend. José makes his identity known. They fight but are separated. Escamillo leaves but invites Carmen and the revolutionaries to Seville for his next fight. José is plunged into a jealous rage.

Remendado stumbles upon the hidden Micaëla. She tells José that his mother is dying. Carmen urges José to go to his mother. Before leaving with Micaëla, José tells Carmen that she belongs to him and that they will meet again. 

Act 4 
Crowds are preparing for the festive Corrida at the Plaza de Toros in Seville. After the procession in which Escamillo is the star attraction, Frasquita and Mercédès warn Carmen that José has been spotted in the crowd. Carmen ignores their warnings and bravely remains for a final encounter. José appears and desperately pleads for her love. As the crowd celebrates Escamillo’s triumph in the bullring, Carmen tells him she can never love him again. Realizing that he can never possess her, José grabs Carmen, ringing the life out of her.