The Florida Grand Opera‘s uberly relevant Così fan tutte, exquisitely directed by Bernard Uzan, grabs you from the beginning and never lets go. It was a fantastically fun, semi-farcical romp through librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s tale of relationships, wife-swapping, the futility of fidelity and, most importantly, our desperate need for human connection.

Dorabella, Fiordiligi, Ferrando and Guglielmo. Photo by Rod Millington for FGO

The opera’s contemporary set and costume designs were Dynasty meets Sex in the City—formal, a lotta’ leg and cleavage—but stripped of the pomp and poof of the shoulder pad. As soon as the curtain went up, the three male leads—Ferrando (played by Jason Slayden), Guglielmo (played by Jonathan Beyer) and Don Alfonso (played by Arthur Woodley)—set the tone and the stakes for the opera.

In Act I, Don Alfonso challenges the two young men to a bet—that all women are fickle and that their fervent loyalty and fidelity can be cracked. The two men accept the challenge, pretend to set off for war to fool their lovers, sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, and return to them dressed in disguise. The two men proceed to seduce the heart of the other’s fiance.

Ferrando, Guglielmo and Alfonso. Photo by Rod Millington for FGO

The wife-swap courtship continues in Act II, and eventually the women crack and fall in love with their new suitors, but not without a fight. When Dorabella and Fiordiligi decide to marry them, their betrayal and humanity are revealed. Once the newlyweds sign the marriage contract, the men vanish into an adjacent room, remove their disguises and crash the wedding party. Shocked, the two sisters have no choice but to accept, just like the men, their true nature, which isn’t fickle, but aligned with our drive to connect, give and receive love and avoid a life of loneliness at all costs.

Destina with Ferrando and Guglielmo. Photo by Rod Millington for FGO

Così fan tutte roughly translates into “this is how women do things/this is how women are,” but the opera also reveals a little bit more about human nature: this is why we do things/this is why we are. “By taking action when you are lonely [finding a new lover and falling in love, perhaps], by changing your response to failure [or loss, abandonment], protecting your self-esteem by battling negative thinking, you won’t just heal your psychological wounds, you won’t just build emotional resilience, you will thrive,” claims psychologist Guy Winch.

Two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, were devastated when their fiances abandoned them. Loss is a psychological wound. The women healed those wounds with the tools they had and made themselves vulnerable to new love, new possibilities for happiness. Who wouldn’t do the same until love sticks?

The cast made Così fan tutte one of the most enjoyable and hilarious opera experiences I’ve had so far. Catch the remaining performances.

In Miami-Dade County, the Florida Grand Opera will present Così fan tutte at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Performances are scheduled for January 27 , 30 and 31 at at 8 p.m. In Broward County, performances will take place at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Ave., Ft. Lauderdale. Performances are scheduled for February 12 and 14 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets or more information, visit www.fgo.org.