LONDON - Britain's Royal Opera says it's sorry for causing distress but the show will go on after a rape scene in "Guillaume Tell" sparked boos and walkouts.
Director Damiano Michieletto's production of the 1829 Rossin opera about Swiss apple-skewerer William Tell includes a scene in which soldiers strip a woman naked and assault her.
The sequence prompted loud boos at Monday's opening-night performance.
The Guardian's Tim Ashley found the scene "protracted and pruriently voyeuristic," while critic Richard Morrison in The Times called it "inexcusably nasty."
The company's director of opera, Kasper Holten, said the scene "puts the spotlight on the brutal reality of women being abused during wartime." He said it was meant to be uncomfortable to watch but "we are sorry if some people have found this distressing."
